Terror, Trials, and Tests

This week in Canadian Politics has been fascinating. Most recent has been the argument between Stephen Harper and the LIberal Party over the renewal of anti-terror laws. Those laws, which the Liberals themselves enacted, and did so while wrapped in the Canadian flag, are suddenly so un-Canadian that they cannot be renewed.

At least, so sayeth Stephane Dion and the Liberals.

Ok, well most of the Liberals.

Some of the liberals?

Dion is getting a lot of flack from his own party on this issue. His stance is more than apillte unpopular.

We all know how Harper likes to divide and conquer. He sees a wedge issue here. He smells blood. The liberals are reversing themselves, and Dion will look ineffective no matter what. Either Dion will create friction within his caucus or he will cave to his caucus, giving Harper the chance to exploit Dion's perceived lack of leadership ability.

And then there is the issue of the changes to how justices are appointed. The Conservatives want to give Law Enforcement agencies a say in the appointment process. It is seen as a move to promote the Conservative "Law and Order" agenda.

The Liberals seem to think this is an attack on an independent judiciary. Frankly, I don't see how this can compromise the independence of the judiciary anymore than the PM appointing Supreme Court justices. In the U.S., judges are blatantly partisan, and yet this is not viewed as a compromise of judiciary independence.

But then, the way recent Liberal governments handled supposedly independent enquiries, and dealt with protesters, they are perhaps not the best ones to defend democracy.

Then there is the Air-India investigation. Who would have thought it would take this long to get some answers? Not I. But that issue, coupled with the question of judicial appointments, is what gave rise to Harper trying to read a newspaper article into the Record of he House of Commons.
In it, the Father-In-Law of a Liberal MP is named as being questioned in the whole Air India affair.

The Liberals were incensed, saying this was a smear against the MP. Actually it was not. It was a smear against the Liberal Party. It was an attempt to show that the Liberals have a vested interest in the status quo. It protects, possibly, the electoral prospects of one of their members.

Now, personally, I think that's a stretch. At the same time, it gives the Conservatives more leverage in getting the Anti-Terror provisions renewed.

Once again, Harper smelled blood, and he went for it.

Much to my surprise, Harper is turning out to be a very decisive, strong leader, and a somewhat ruthless partisan politician.

He is very Trudeauesque in that way.

And that brings me to Justin Trudeau. The man is unquestionably charismatic, and definitely has star power. He is articulate, and intelligent. He is also green as grass politically, and, I think wisely, plans to test the waters in the next federal election, which should be sometime this year.

If he wins, and performs well, you could very well see another potential leadership fight in the Liberal Party, especially if the Liberals lose. Justin's timing is great for Justin. It may be less so for the Liberal Party.