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Maybe you know someone recently fired for his political views. Perhaps he was foolish enough to state out loud his opposition to COVID lockdowns, belief in two sexes, or admiration for Donald Trump. Should companies be prohibited from discriminating on the grounds of political belief? In principle, the answer should be No. In the woke cancel culture that has gripped North America, the answer is clearly Yes.
Ask anyone and she will tell you confidently that discrimination is wrong. Yet people discriminate all the time. They choose to be friends with some people and not with others. They treat their spouses differently than other men and women. Employers hire better qualified candidates over those less qualified. To discriminate means to tell apart and treat differently. Statutes prohibit discrimination only on specified grounds in certain circumstances. You can invite only Irish friends to your dinner party, but you cannot advertise for a male associate. You can hire
‘No More Pipelines Bill’ C-69 Alberta’s Next Legal Hope
Having recently lost its constitutional challenge against federal carbon pricing in Canada’s top court, Alberta is still in the fight against Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act.
Multibillion-dollar investments in resource and pipeline development are not all that is at stake. Provincial-federal relations and Western alienation are collateral issues in what promises to be an extended battle.
‘Sucker Punch’
Passed on June 21, 2019, Bill C-69 lengthened the review process for proposed energy projects by adding a new phase of consultation at the front end. The legislation allowed a wider range of interests to appeal proposed projects and called for “Indigenous knowledge” and the “intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors” in approvals. C-69 also gave cabinet the final say.
Jason Clemens: Beware experts bearing consensus leaderpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from leaderpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
‘Strictly UN Optics’: Quebec’s Magpie River Granted Personhood Status
A remote river in eastern Quebec has been granted personhood status, making it the first time in Canada that an entity of nature purportedly has the same legal rights as a human being.
Bestowing legal personhood on the Magpie River, which spills into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is being lauded by the groups involved, but one expert describes the move as “strictly UN optics.”
Bill Gallagher, a lawyer and strategist who’s authored two books on the intersection of resource interests and indigenous rights in Canada, says granting personhood status to a river has more to do with aligning with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) than with empowering indigenous people economically.
Legal Challenges to Pandemic Measures on the Rise as Civil Liberties Groups Cry Foul
The constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians are front and centre in a flurry of legal challenges to pandemic measures, as civil liberties groups take on multiple cases they say represent unconstitutional measures implemented by authorities.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has court actions underway or pending, as of Feb. 25, against five provinces around lockdown measures it says violate Charter rights. And it’s suing the federal government for imposing mandatory hotel quarantine on travellers, among other travel restrictions.
JCCF is also representing dozens of individuals across the country for violation tickets they’ve received related to pandemic measures, says litigation director Jay Cameron.