PUBLICATION:
Windsor Star
DATE:
2003.11.01
EDITION:
Final
SECTION: OPINION
PAGE:
A12
SOURCE:
Windsor Star
ILLUSTRATION:
Scales of Justice
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Property
rights belong in Charter; Governments have broken the pledge to protect veterans
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I
read with great interest Lorne Gunter's column, Property Rights are In Jeopardy
In Canada. He refers to the distressing decision of the Supreme Court of Canada
in the Authorson vs Canada case. In that case, the Supreme Court, with weary
resignation, stated that the commandment, "thou shall not steal," does
not apply to the government.
I
am one of the legal counsel for the plaintiff in that case and I am gratified to
see that there are other voices out there lamenting the sorry state of
constitutional protection for property rights in this country.
The Authorson case is a dramatic illustration of how our
ancient rights and liberties are being dramatically eroded.
It
should be remembered that, in a parliamentary democracy like Canada, a majority
of seats in the House of Commons is, more often that not, elected by less that
50 per cent of voters across the country.
Individual
members of parliament have very little scope for initiating legislation. Control
of the legislative agenda for parliament is concentrated in a few powerful hands
in cabinet. Senior civil servants and a few powerful ministers effectively
decide what will be put before Parliament.
Confiscatory
legislation, such as the section in the Department of Veterans' Affairs Act
which was at issue in the Authorson case, is thus initiated, for reasons which
the Supreme Court noted were never explained to the public and rushed through
parliament with no indication that it effectively deprived profoundly disabled
veterans of hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money.
This
legislation, as we proved in court, (one judge labelled it pernicious) was
brought forth in an attempt to erase a very large and unforgivable mistake made
over many years by federal mandarin who knew better.
They
utterly failed to meet the obligations of trust placed upon them to take care of
and reasonably manage the veterans' life savings.
Power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Authorson case should be a
wake-up call to all Canadians, much less persons who do business with the
government. Great power will be abused if not unchecked.
Robert
Borden, Canada's prime minister at the time, addressed Canadian troops at Vimy
ridge in April 1917. Just before that historic battle, he made the following
pledge:
" ... you need have no fear that the government and
the country will fail to show just appreciation of your service to the country
and that no man will have just cause to reproach the government for having
broken with the men who won and the men who died ..."
Disgracefully,
successive governments did break that faith and have continued to do so. Despite
the promise made to take care of disabled veterans and to safeguard their
property, the government utterly failed to do so. Additionally, it simply tried
to eliminate its responsibility.
If a government can simply ignore its sacred pledge and
obligation to those who, in the service of their country, scarified their
humanity, then we should not be surprised if tomorrow, our governments turn on
us.
A
person's right to use and enjoy their own property is one of the ancient
foundational pillars of a free and democratic society.
In
1215, at Runneymeade, the Barons of England took their King to task for doing
the very thing our government has done. The
Magna Carta was a check on the power of the sovereign, to prevent him or her
from confiscating their subjects' property and inheritances at his or her whim.
It is time for Canadians to demand the same of our governments. We must
take them again to Runneymeade.
It is time to put property protections in our own Charter
of Rights, as part of the supreme law of the land. We cannot rely on governments to check their own power by
themselves. Canadians must do it for them.
RAYMOND
COLAUTTI
Windsor
BREITKREUZ’S 10-YEAR FIGHT FOR PROPERTY RIGHTS
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/property.htm