Will Dion give Ken Dryden the boot?

As many of our readers know, the Ryerson Free Press is monitoring certain aspects of the election that are not always on the mainstream media’s radar, such as post-secondary education and the war in Afghanistan. These issues are nevertheless critical to Canadians.

Most recently is the news of Ken Dryden, Liberal candidate for York Centre, who caught the attention of some when he called for the collective punishment of Palestinian people in Gaza. At an address on September 24 at Beth Emeth synagogue, Dryden was reported to state the following: "Stop all aid that flows into Gaza. While that may seem a harsh measure that will hurt Palestinian civilians… it is the right thing to do at this time."

The Liberals have gotten off pretty easy during this election campaign for their history of supporting Canada's war effort. During this election they have painted themselves as a peace-loving party, exemplified by their support for American war resistors and commitment to end Canada’s role in Afghanistan by 2011.

However, the Liberals are just as culpable for Omar Khadr's arrest and seven-year detention at Guantanamo Bay as are the Conservatives. They could have toppled the Conservative government on any number of votes, including the budget where billions of dollars was earmarked for military expansion, but instead they let it quietly pass.

Sins of omission are often worse than sins of commission. But that's not the case for Dryden. His words about cutting aid to Gaza were loud and clear.

With the exception of a short piece from John Turley-Ewart, Associate Editor of the Financial Post, most of the major media outlets seemed to miss the comments made by Ken Dryden. As Turley-Ewart points out, there appears to be a vast gulf between the media’s treatment of those who promote intolerance and those who promote Islamophobia.

Dion has already fired one candidate for her volatile comments pertaining to the Jewish community. The question now is will he follow his own example and consult with the Arab community about this latest infraction committed by another one of his candidates?

We obviously spoke too soon

A few weeks ago, we had speculated that perhaps Dion had found some backbone to stand up to the Conservatives. When they didn’t show up last Monday to vote against Bill C-50, it was confirmed for us that, indeed, the Liberals are lacking in moral fiber.

Despite Dion’s public opposition, Bill C-50, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, quietly passed on June 9, with only 12 Liberal MPs showing up. Bill C-50 provides sweeping changes to the Immigration Act that many organisations, including those which engage in immigration advocacy, have opposed. One of the changes would allow Diane Finley sweeping powers over who immigrates to Canada.

According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, the amendments to the bill eliminate the right to have applications based on humanitarian and compassionate reasons considered.

The Liberals’ tendency of saying one thing and doing another (or not doing anything to stop it) is getting old. They said to the CBC that the immigration amendments are an affront to Canadian values and suggested they will overturn the legislation if they win the next election. But they obviously don’t have the backbone to actually stand up against something that they see as an affront to Canadian values.

This has to change soon. Canadians cannot put up with a Liberal party that is all-talk too much longer, especially when the impact of immigration reform will likely negatively impact so many people. The Liberal party’s establishment should be embarrassed for how it uses important social issues to try and jockey their way into power, or to avoid an election.

We live in a democracy. If the majority of the people who are elected disagree with an issue, and they vote against, some semblance of democracy has occurred. If the majority of members oppose it, and it passes because dozens of members don’t show up for work, democracy is spat upon.

Despite all the faults of the conservative party, they at least walk the talk they talk. The Liberals could be replaced by an army of foam men (and a few foam women) and we’d likely never know the difference. That’s disgraceful.

[Side-Note: There were a number of other issues addressed in Bill C-50, unrelated to immigration. One was the follow-through of the dissolution of the Millennium Scholarship Foundation. It’s being replaced with $250 million for the new Canadian Students Grants Programme.]

Could Dion have found that backbone he's been missing?

On Tuesday, June 3 the Federal Liberals and Bloc, teamed up to back an NDP bill, the second of its kind, to allow the estimated 200 American Iraq War resisters to stay in Canada. Neither of the two parties supported this bill the first time the NDP brought it forward. Maybe this time the Liberals voted in favour to send a message to fellow Liberal Bob Rae who has worked against party leader Stephan Dion to end Canada’s military involvement in Afghanistan earlier than the current 2011 time line.

Maybe the Liberals supported it because the Bill is only a symbolic non-binding one; the Conservatives need not heed this directive. Nor will the house fall over it. Staying true to their pro-war roots, the Conservatives voted against this bill.

On Thursday, the Canadian Press reported that Stephane Dion is vowing to vote against Bill C484, a private members' bill served by Ken Epp and supported by Harper's conservatives.

Bill C484, the "Unborn Victims of Crime" bill is not only extremely contentious, but it is being challenged as wrongheaded and misinformed. Many conservatives, like Rona Ambrose, claim that it is meant to fight violence against women. Interesting, then, that there is such an opposition to it from within the women’s rights movement.

At its most basic level, the Bill C484 attempts to give status to a fetus, through the back door, by enhancing the criminal sentence for those who are convicted of murdering a pregnant woman (and the fetus). The bill is being sold a tool to potentially deter abusers of pregnant women, but critics say this has nothing to address root issues that cause violence against women, pregnant or not. Moreover, this bill will almost certainly establish a slippery slope toward the re-criminalization of Abortion.

With all these concerns, it's good to see that Dion has committed his party to oppose Epp’s bill. However, the bill passed its second reading with 26 Liberal MPs voting in favour of it. With the Bloc and NDP already almost entirely on side, Liberal whip Karen Redman will need to get cracking to bring the remaining 26 rogue MPs in line to stop this bill from passing.