November 3, 2022: I must defend your Fundamental Rights
Charter Rights: Suspension of fundamental rights by use of the ‘Notwithstanding’ clause in Quebec and Ontario is against the healthy development of constitutional traditions in Canada. We applaud Brian Lilley and The Toronto Sun for giving it proper space in their publication, when the Canadians and their Leaders are not able to stand up for ensuring that the flags of high reputation and moral authority of the beautiful Democracy of Canada fly high in Ottawa.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has gained strength of number of legislators by arousing baser instinct of denying equal rights to English-speaking citizens of Quebec. This must be condemned by both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre. We also call upon Legault, politically strong he may look to be today, to introspect and to work as the Premier of Quebec and not as the leader of a group, which under his leadership, likes to array itself against another group of citizens. The other group may be smaller in number. But it is the duty of any government, which has not lost its moral compass, to guard the rights of smaller groups and of even individuals.
The use of the ‘Notwithstanding’ clause to prevent the strike of educational workers, when the schools are re-opening after two years of Covid is an example of the use of a wrong weapon for serving a good cause.
We call upon the Education workers and their leadership to have the good sense of NOT resorting to strike at this stage.
We also call upon the media and the political leadership to come forward to offer such advice to the Leaders of the educational workers in a near-unanimous voice. They should also offer to help begin negotiations between the Government of Ontario and the Leaders of Education workers after normalcy is restored after a semester of learning has been completed.
When any group of citizens forget their duties towards the society and remember only their rights and when leaders of public opinion refuse to criticize Leaders of such groups near-unanimously, the society suffers. Development of a healthy democracy cannot be divorced from a continuous and voluntary assumption of civic responsibilities by citizens. When political leaders of the two ruling parties and the opposition forget that their basic strength comes from their moral authority and not from the very temporary accretion of number of law-makers in their legislatures, they diminish themselves and damage the authority of the Constitution, on the basis of which they have become Leaders.
The citizens of the beautiful democracy of Canada must come forward through NGOs and through storms of letters to their Law-makers and media, when the cynical political leaders are working to be known as moral dwarfs in the pages of history.