CKNW Editorial
for October 22, 2001

I had been prepared to change my mind this morning. After reading Saturday's National Post and the article by Linda Frum about the American terrorist expert saying that there are more terrorists in Canada than anywhere that in the United States ... and reading further I saw that President Chretien was considering a two year sunset clause in the terrorism bill. I started my editorial with the Emerson Aphorism "a foolish consistency is the hob goblin of little minds" and went on to say that in light of what I now knew, I withdrew, with considerable reluctance, my objections to the legislation. I should have known better.

I learn this morning that President Chretien has withdrawn what seemed last week to be an undertaking to have a two year sunset clause. The reason he gave is classic Chretien simplemindedness ... since we don't know when the terrorism will be over we can't have a sunset clause.This reminded me so much of those days back in 1982 when many of us were arguing that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would give to the courts powers that belonged to parliament and the Liberals of that day went around the country asking "don't you want rights?" as if that were the issue and as if we didn't have them already.

Whether the war on terrorism takes a year or a century the sunset clause is an excellent idea because it forces parliament to keep a constant vigil that the police are not overstepping their bounds. If there is another Apec like conference ... or one about world trade ... and the police abuse their power by locking up demonstrators instead of terrorists, the abuses can be dealt with by the justice committee in preparation for the renewing of the sunsetting Terrorism Law.

I believe the case has been made that there are terrorists in Canada and that it is a real and pressing problem that must be dealt with by the authorities. No case whatever has been made to the Canadian people, however, that to deal with this crisis requires throwing people in jail without a hearing and perhaps keeping them there for a year ... nor for forcing people to testify outside of a trial on the penalty of jail if they refuse.

This case may be there - but it certainly hasn't been demonstrated other than by innuendo.

Why do I get so exercised over this?

Because we have a political police force in this country. We don't think of our beloved Mounties that way ... we see them on their famous ride in their famous red tunics ... or having their pictures taken with tourists. The fact is they are a political police under the unrestrained direction of President Chretien. And I say this should scare the liver out of people. Instead of reporting to an independent commissioner, as was the case for eons, the Commissioner of the RCMP is just another deputy minister in the solicitor-general's office and surely none have the slightest doubt that the solicitor general is a lackey of the Prime Minister.

I have received email suggesting that I am soft on terrorism and I can assure you that nothing is further from the truth. In fact, given what's happening to media elsewhere, and given that we have terrorism in our midst, I'm scared stiff of them.

What I am even more scared of, however, is giving to the head of what is already officially a police state the powers to do as he pleases with enemies. One only has to look at what President Chretien did at APEC to understand that he will unhesitatingly use his personally controlled police force.

If President Chretien had permitted a sunset clause that wouldn't have ended the matter for he could easily abolish that clause in an instant by using his captive caucus. But at least it would have made it a little more difficult for him to abuse a power we know very well from recent history he is quite prepared to abuse.

We now have a government absolutely under the thumb of President Chretien and his non-elected advisers. President Chretien has control of every office in Canada including the judiciary. He controls the RCMP ... and now we are going to give him power to deal with people summarily on the hope - and God knows where it springs from - that somehow this man won't abuse his absolute authority.

We must be mad.