Takes One to Know One

Maybe I was wrong a few days ago when I wrote that the opposition parties were not doing their jobs vis-à-vis the government. I was not aware then that the government can move things along all by itself. Maurice Vellacott, the chairman of the Commons aboriginal committee, falsely claimed that Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin said justices should take on ‘god-like’ power. All McLachlin said was that justices should “uphold unwritten constitutional norms, even in the face of clearly enacted laws or hostile public opinion." That is precisely what the justices are entrusted with: to uphold the constitution in its entirety. If the justices make decisions according to fashion, why would we need them? Why do we need law and government indeed? Just run a couple of polls and we are done. Vellacott is an idiot and an old-fashion reformer, so no one should be surprise. What is more unforgivable is Stephen Harper’s reaction. He flatly rejected the call for Vellacott’s dismissal and justified it by saying that “Liberals have made far more serious comments in the past about judges than those made by his MP.” What kind of reasoning is this? I thought he wanted to remove the Liberal from power because they were corrupt and unaccountable. I thought he wanted a clean and accountable government. Now, he let Vellacott goes on because Vellacott is no worse than the corrupt and unaccountable Liberals? If that is the way he thinks, then why did we have the last election? At least we know the Liberals are corrupt and unaccountable and would not have been cheated again. I know now why Harper spoke with such conviction when he denounced the Liberal government—it takes one to know one.