Re:Harper files lawsuit against Liberals
over website claim
March 14
As far as our Prime Minister suing the Opposition party for libel goes, give me a break. It is nice that the party is taking on the cost of the litigation, but in the big scheme of things we are taking a massive step backward in democracy.
The whole purpose of an opposition party in a democracy is to question the government over issues. It would have been completely irresponsible for the Opposition party to ignore the Cadman issue and leave it outside the confines of the House of Commons.
The really strange thing from this observer's perspective is that the Conservative party didn't seem to mind accusing Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin of being fully aware of the sponsorship scandal and where that money was going. Fascinating how quickly things change when the shoe is on the other foot.
If this suit is successful, we might as well throw out all the opposition parties and pretend that everything the government does is right and just and above board, and in our best interests. There should be no opposition because it just might lead to real discussions of issues that Canadians need to hear answers to.
Adam Mercer, Oshawa
Stephen Harper has finally made a mockery of our judicial system by using it for nothing more than to advance his own political agenda. The courts are notoriously backlogged and have much more important cases to rule on, like ones where parties are actually injured and need compensation. Harper may claim that the money left over from the award will be donated to charity, but this certainly cannot justify a waste of precious judicial resources.
Robert Kleinman, Toronto
Both the Conservatives and Liberals are expending excessive energy on trying to establish that the other is sleazier. As a taxpaying citizen, I can assure them that Canadians are now convinced there is more than enough sleaze to go around – both ways.
As a new strategy, perhaps they should consider providing good legislation and representation of constituents as an alternative to using Parliament as nothing more than a vehicle for furthering their own partisan interests.
If they'd rather play politics than serve the public, why doesn't one or the other "choose a trigger" and call an election so the Canadian public can play, too? Or are we not allowed in the game?
Randy Gostlin, Oshawa
Can someone explain to me how a parliamentary democracy is supposed to function when the Prime Minister sues the Leader of the Opposition for libel? This is not mere "libel chill," it's a thuggish assault on democracy.
Ryan Whyte, Toronto
No comments:
Post a Comment