Over at the National Post, John Ivison is trying to give more credit to the attack ads and a handful of missteps for the sliding support of the federal Liberal Party.
Ivison has missed two key points that have driven supporters away from the Liberals:
Bill C-51 and Bill C-24. Along with the so-called "Fair Elections Act", these two pieces of legislation represent Harper's most egregious attacks on Canadians and our citizenship.
Trudeau had a golden opportunity to call this chicanery out and make a huge pile of political hay in the process. All he had to do was denounce the bill when the Conservatives refused key amendments. Instead, the order was given to the LPC caucus to vote for Bill C-51.
Similarly, Trudeau has been astonishingly blind to the intersection of Bill C-51 and C-24, which between them not only violate our Constitution in both word and principle but in fact create a legal construct that resurrects both the archaic concept of banishment, but places the decision making entirely in the hands of politicians. This violates one more principle of our government - those who make the law should never be the same people charged with its enforcement. Further, Bill C-51 does not make terrorism a crime. No, far from it. Bill C-51 is a piece of legislation which makes political dissent a crime.
When Trudeau gave the order to vote for Bill C-51, he enabled Bill C-24. In doing so, he made second class citizens of every Canadian who is eligible through their parents or grandparents to hold citizenship in another country - even if they have no meaningful association with that other country. Canada is a nation filled with immigrants and their children. First, second and third generations are all now second class citizens, all subject not to equal treatment under the law, but to unjust punishment at the hands of the ministers.
Many of these people are potential supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada. How many who are not died-in-the-wool supporters of the LPC do you think are going to continue to support them?
Two leaders have been abundantly clear in their opposition to Bill C-51: Tom Mulcair and Elizabeth May. Both of whom represent parties with platforms that many Liberal supporters could easily adapt to. Justin Trudeau and his advisors would do well to bear this in mind.
Ivison has missed two key points that have driven supporters away from the Liberals:
Bill C-51 and Bill C-24. Along with the so-called "Fair Elections Act", these two pieces of legislation represent Harper's most egregious attacks on Canadians and our citizenship.
Trudeau had a golden opportunity to call this chicanery out and make a huge pile of political hay in the process. All he had to do was denounce the bill when the Conservatives refused key amendments. Instead, the order was given to the LPC caucus to vote for Bill C-51.
Similarly, Trudeau has been astonishingly blind to the intersection of Bill C-51 and C-24, which between them not only violate our Constitution in both word and principle but in fact create a legal construct that resurrects both the archaic concept of banishment, but places the decision making entirely in the hands of politicians. This violates one more principle of our government - those who make the law should never be the same people charged with its enforcement. Further, Bill C-51 does not make terrorism a crime. No, far from it. Bill C-51 is a piece of legislation which makes political dissent a crime.
When Trudeau gave the order to vote for Bill C-51, he enabled Bill C-24. In doing so, he made second class citizens of every Canadian who is eligible through their parents or grandparents to hold citizenship in another country - even if they have no meaningful association with that other country. Canada is a nation filled with immigrants and their children. First, second and third generations are all now second class citizens, all subject not to equal treatment under the law, but to unjust punishment at the hands of the ministers.
Many of these people are potential supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada. How many who are not died-in-the-wool supporters of the LPC do you think are going to continue to support them?
Two leaders have been abundantly clear in their opposition to Bill C-51: Tom Mulcair and Elizabeth May. Both of whom represent parties with platforms that many Liberal supporters could easily adapt to. Justin Trudeau and his advisors would do well to bear this in mind.
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