The Privledged Few
Updated Update: Peter Doody, Chrétien's lawyer announced on CTV this morning that Chretien would be paying his own legal fees after CTV asked their audience if the legal fees should come out of public funding. 96% said NO. I'm going to leave it at that.
Update: It's been reported on the CTV six o'clock news that Chretien will be covering his own legal fees IF the court rendered a montary settlement in his favour. That's Chretien's way of getting back at Canadians I guess for demanding justice .
What am I NOT getting? How is it that Chretien can have the tax payers cover his legal fees when low-income Canadians can't?
I guess it's that attitude of privledge and entitlement only bestowed on the likes of the Liberals and the lawyers that defend them. That they are above the law and are deserving of special services that other Canadians are restricted from getting is beyond surreal.
I'm so disoriented from it that I'm not sure what country I'm living in. For a moment there, I thought I was transported to the politics of a developing nation. I thought it was one of those anxiety dreams I get from being a victim of crime, but I realized, I'm awake. But it still feels even though I'm awake, like my heart is twice the size it's supposed to be, my chest hurts, why can't I concentrate? Is this the physical reaction I have to endure in an environment where there is no notion of justice? How long can a person stand it before they burst?
The only outlet I can comprehend is revisiting that C.E.D.A.W review again. I'm going to take some credit for this part because my submission to the United Nations focused on the oppressive removal of legal rights and services in Canada, in particular, Ontario.
Why is this oppressive? Because section 24 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that Enforcement of those guaranteed rights and freedoms can be remedied in a court of competent jurisdiction.
That can only be done with the legal support of a lawyer, in which hundreds of thousands of Canadians are denied because they don't have the tax payers covering their costs like Chretien is.
So in effect, this section of the Charter is impotent and means nothing to a disproportionately large number of Canadians. This report does not include low income men in the areas of law it cites, but when they are taken into consideration, the numbers of those who are oppressed from these guaranteed rights, becomes higher.
Here's what the C.E.D.A.W committee has said:
31. While appreciating the fact that funds are available under the Court Challenges Programme for test cases under the equality guarantee in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Committee is concerned that the Programme applies only to federal laws and programmes. The Committee is also concerned that federal legal aid funds in civil and family law and for legal matters related to poverty issues, in contrast to legal aid for criminal cases, are channeled to the provinces and territories at their discretion. That, in practice, turns out to have a disproportionately restrictive impact on women seeking legal redress as compared to men.
32. The Committee urges the State party to find ways for making funds available for equality test cases under all jurisdictions and for ensuring that sufficient legal aid is available to women under all jurisdictions when seeking redress in issues of civil and family law and in those relating to poverty issues.
The full content of the report is in the links.
So far, this report, as mentioned before, has been ignored by the following:
Paul Martin's PMO office
Ministry of the Attorney General of Canada
Canadian Human Rights Commission
The Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Ontario
Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario
The Law Society of Upper Canada
Legal Aid Ontario
...oh yeah...and the CBC
posted by HR at 11/02/2005 08:31:00 a.m.
5 Comments:
And the realy sad part is, we can't even go to court to sue the bastards for not following the recommendations because the recommendations haven't been enforced!!! What a screwed up country we live in. I say the hell with separation,lets just vote Kebek and O-tario out of the ROC!! Or buy a good nuke from the Ukranians.
The charter is can only be made to match what you want it to if your Librano or a socialist. I have no confidence in the charter due to past misinterpretations that have passed.
Yes it depends on the interpretation, but it also depends on how well the lawyers argue it.
I won't be making a Charter challenge, I'll be making a Human Rights Application using that Charter clause and the Committees report as evidence to support my application.
This will only apply to Ontario though, nothing else.
If I COULD go to a court of competent jurisdiction, I would. But I can't because I don't have the wherewithall to pay a lawyer to do this and the Court Challenges programme doesn't cover provincial Charter violations.
So if it was heard in a court of law, it would be established as a judgement where other provinces could consider it.
By going through the OHRC, there is no judgement in court, but it could affect the legislation. Unless, it goes so far that the OHRC takes on the role of collecting data for an impact study, which I'm going to ask for, then it is possible that could be taken into consideration by other provinces but each province runs their legal system differently
The OHR Code is binding on the Government of Ontario.
re your update....was this on CTV? If so,they missed one teeny-weeny little thing...He said the taxpayers would not have to pay IF the court rendered a montary settlement in his favour. Gee....imagine the MSM leaving that little tid-bit out!! NOT
ok...I'll re-update...CTV has a bad habit of getting facts wrong
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