The War Room

SUPREMELY DISAPPOINTED

The one thing that made me excited over Stephen Harper winning a minority government, the thing that he did not need a majority to do was that he had the chance to put a justice on the Supreme Court of Canada. As The War Room has also said, a change in government does not mean a change in culture. If one wants to change the culture one must do more than just vote in conservative governments. One must embrace the arts, educational and legal systems.

Prime Minister Harper next week will be able to fill a Supreme Court seat. On the positive, he is opening the process up to the public. On the negative, he is choosing the appointment based on a short list of recommedations put forth by the Liberals before the election. It seems that he will make his final choice based on one of three recommeded by that wunderkind social engineer known as Irwin Cotler. Coltler, the Liberal Justice Minister who said religious freedoms under the Charter would have to be taken on a case by case basis.

As said in today's National Post,

"The decision to continue with the Liberal process means the Conservatives could be passing up their only chance to put their stamp on the highest court in the country, which decides issues that can affect Canadians for decades.

The current bench is relatively young and, barring any unforeseen departures, the next mandatory retirement is not scheduled until November, 2013, when Justice Morris Fish must step down at age 75.

Former prime minister Paul Martin accused the Tories during the recent election campaign of planning to "stack" the Supreme Court with conservative judges.

By choosing a justice from the Liberal-approved list, the Conservatives would seem to have shut down that line of criticism."

This news for me is devastating. We have had a Supreme Court culture now for almost thirty years that has an increasingly partisan New Left philosphical outlook. That is a large reason why Canada's values have deteriorarted the way they have and we have become a nation adrift on a sea of acquience and identity politics.

The Emmerson appointment did not bother me. Others were increasingly troubled by it to the point of arranging protests and petitions.

How will they react to this?

This is the battle I wanted to fight; picking a Supreme Court Justice. Now I am told that not only have I lost the battle but that it will never be fought. I feel like those poor Australian soldiers who fought the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI; sent to the front lines as decoys to be shot on sight just so the British could move into another position.

Why? So that we can win a majority in two years. When we can have more left-liberal appointments so that we can win another moderate majority after that. If the Conservatives do not change the judiciary then they have become little more than seat warmers until the Liberals return. And they will still be vilified in the next election as neo-fascists.

I understand what Prime Minister Harper wants to achieve. He wants to change the culture and I do understand that change does not happen overnight. I also understand that he will probably do things in a majority situation that are more conservative. He wants to be Canada's Ronald Reagan; set an example for conservatism so that in twenty years the real changes can occur under a new leader who would be Canada's George W. Bush. I also understand that he wants to set precedents where important social issues are not chosen by the Supreme Court but by parliament. I understand his logic and way of thinking.

But I have to be blunt; along with the Michael Wilson appointment I am starting to see an image. I do not want a return to the Mulroney era. I want a conservative government based on the experiences we have had since the Trudeau era which looks at what they did wrong and tries to correct them. I know this is heresy to say to some, but Brian Mulroney was an extension of the cultural traditions of the Trudeau era. He came from that tradition, not the Reagan/ Thatcher tradition that was happening elsewhere at the time.

A Supreme Court justice pick is not something one can time. When it comes up, you take it. This is the battle I wanted to fight. I wanted a judge with a philosophy not based in 'identity politics.'

Now we will have another justice like the arrogant Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin . She who gave a speach last year in Australia alluding that she did not need to consult the constitution in her decisions if she saw fit. No ironies indeed that she has been very vocal about not wanting the judicial process made public.

Now we will have another justice like the arrogant radical feminist Chief Justice Rosie Abella. Oh yes, we do genuflect when we say her name.

I cannot believe that any names recommended by Cotler will be anything other than more of the same.

This along with the news that the Ontario Progressive Conservatives are moving to the center to emphasize the adjective in their name over the noun does not give me the hope I once had.

I wonder if there will be any conservative outrage over this? This really mattered. This is the fight I wanted. The battle I was geared up for. Emmerson was a battle built upon by the liberal media and too many conservatives played right into their hands. I promise you this will not be big news next week. Any concerns by conservatives will be muted and stifled because it is what the media wants.

THIS was your Harriet Myers battle, not Emmerson.

Now we will have to wait until 2013 for a new pick can be chosen. Tell me...

Who do you think will be in power then?

posted by Nicol DuMoulin @ 6:57 AM