'Let me also be clear,''Harper wrote, after reciting his government's initiatives in areas like tax cuts, crime, and the war on terror. ''In the coming months, we will strike a judicial inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River salmon fishery and oppose racially divided fisheries programs.''
While having two commercial fisheries has always struck me as kind of odd, I also remember that the so-called "Indian Fishery" was created as a result of a series of court rulings around the interpretation of the various treaties involved and the management of resources.
Of course, what Harper's doing is the usual conservative approach to any issues around rights. The CPC in its numerous incarnations have always taken a "no special rights" approach - basically any rights issue that provides specific protections to subgroups in the population should be excised. A good example of this philosophy comes in his "GST cut". Superficially, "everybody" benefits from this tax cut - after all, we all have to pay GST - right? Wrong. Those living on the low end of the income spectrum cannot, and do not, pay all that much GST - food and shelter (rent) are GST exempt - when that's the bulk of your income used up, you aren't spending all that much on GST after the fact. The "real" beneficiaries of this are those wealthy enough to have significant amounts of disposable income.
Between this latest attack, and the informal liquidation of the Kelowna Accord which address numerous native issues, I think we are getting a pretty clear idea of how the CPoC views minority rights in Canada.
On another note, in a move that can only be described as stupid, Harper's continuing "show of amity" towards BushCo surfaces in a "call me Steve" comment. If the rest of us call you Stephen, and your friends call you Stephen, then your name is Stephen. It is not a sign of respect when GWB calls you "Steve" - it's a slap in the face - and you're allowing someone else to redefine your identity.
Regardless of whether we elected a CPoC government or not, I doubt most Canadians think highly enough of BushCo to feel overly comfortable with the ongoing "cuddliness" that is being shown towards Washington lately.
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