By Harvey Oberfeld
July the 1st, 2015
This was the last straw: I have now decided … I will NOT vote for Harper/Tories
The Harper dictatorship has gone too far.
On the eve of Canada Day, as WE were gearing up to celebrate the freedoms we THINK we still have, the Tories in Ottawa, just prior to the Senate’s Summer recess, were pushing through a last piece of legislation … one that violates not only Canada’s Constitution, Canada’s Charter of Rights but takes away Canadians’ basic right to privacy and specifically singles out Canada’s Unions for discriminatory rules/legislation.
Bill C-377 … a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by BC Tory MP Russ Hiebert … would require Unions … and ONLY Unions … to disclose details of all expenses they make over $5,000. Separate out and compile lists of EVERY expense over $5,000! From organizations that annually manage more than $5 BILLION. Outline EVERY expense over $5,000! An incredible and unacceptable burden!!!
Just imagine the huge red tape/costs/paperwork for every union to compile, collate, disseminate details of EVERY such expenditure …from buying office supplies and furniture to doing mailouts to members or just carrying out union workshops or organizing activities … EVERY expense!
The Bill would also require Unions … and ONLY Unions … to disclose remuneration to anyone (wages, benefits, expenses) totalling more than $100,000.
What this Bill really constitutes is a TORY GOVERNMENT attack on Unions themselves … for no other reasons than to satisfy the Tories’ far right wing base, to pander to anti-Union lobby groups, and to cripple Unions’ operating abilities by draining away large sums of money just to comply with the legislation.
And anyone who dares to argue this was just a Private Members’ Bill and not the responsibility of Harper and the Tory government/caucus should read the history of how the legislation was manoeuvered and manhandled through the Senate this week in a disgraceful, undemocratic manipulation of Senate rules …and rushed off to the Governor General to sign immediately.
It looked like one of the last desperate destructive move by a party/government that knows it is going down … and is trying to extract revenge on its perceived opponents before they are liberated from the dictatorship. What’s next .. stealing the art work from the walls/halls of government?
No wonder that no less than SEVEN provincial governments condemned/opposed the proposed legislation over the years it has been debated as unconstitutional, and the federal privacy commissioner has raised serious concerns about whether it would be legal.
For those Harper apologists who might argue What’s wrong with transparency and the public’s right to know etc? … I have only one response:
Why ONLY Unions?
Why not demand the same of Corporations who spend millions trying to fight or keep out Unions? Or why not force the exact same disclosures by the various “Business” or “Industry” or “Chambers” or “Employers” associations or groups that do exactly what the Unions do …except for the bosses, instead of employees?
Wouldn’t we all like to know how many of the leaders and spokespersons and analysts and consultants for these business lobby groups are paid over $100,000 a year in total remuneration? Wouldn’t we like to know the details of EVERY expenditure THEY make over $5,000?
“ C-377 ushers in an era of transparency and accountability for Canadians unions. It allows union members and the general public to evaluate the effectiveness of unions,” said Hiebert in a news release after the Bill was passed.
Too bad his devotion to transparency doesn’t extend to the corporate lobbyists, business groups and their bosses.
If there is any good news it’s that the new “law” doesn’t go into effect until the end of 2015.
It will also no doubt be challenged in Court and there’s almost doubt in my mind it will eventually be ruled un-Constitutional.
But there’s an easier way: throw the dictatorship out.
This disgraceful attack on working Canadians was the last straw for me: I will NOT vote for Harper/Tories.
Bring on the alternatives…
Yet another of Harper’s unconstitutional policies which will likely get rejected by the Supreme Court.
If I may quote from history regarding a similar oligarch:
“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing, Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”
(Oliver Cromwell on the subject of King Charles. Addressing the Rump Parliament. April 1653)
Keep crying Harv … don’t think your vote will make much of a difference.
Yer right Charles… because the only votes that matter in this country are those of Ontario and Quebec. We all know that, and we know it even before OUR polls close!
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Oh Harvey, why didn’t you speak out while Da Little Thug From Shawinagan was running amok in this country?