Randy White Spouts Off (Conservative MP)

[Aaron]

CBC

TORONTO - Liberal Leader Paul Martin lashed out at one of the Conservative party's most prominent MPs on Friday, saying Randy White's recent dismissal of the power of Canadian courts amounts to a wakeup call about the party's real intentions.

At a news conference in Toronto, Martin called the British Columbia MP's position "a fundamental attack on one of the pillars of our democratic system." He called on Conservative Leader Stephen Harper to either condemn White's position or admit that it does represent the views of the whole party.

"It can't be ignored, not by me, not by Mr. Harper, not by Canadians."

Harper downplayed the situation, telling the Canadian Press that the comments represent White's personal views, and that if elected, the Conservatives would use the notwithstanding clause "prudently."

For example, in the June 15 televised leaders debate, Harper said he would use the notwithstanding clause to beef up child pornography laws against defences based on artistic merit or freedom of expression.

In a May 19 interview for a documentary on same-sex marriage by Alexis Mackintosh called Let No One Put Asunder, White speaks frankly about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and suggests many in his party feel as he does:


"The heck with the courts, eh? You know, one of these days we in this country are going to stand up and say, 'The politicians make the laws and the courts do not.' The courts interpret that law. And if we don't like that interpretation, there's the notwithstanding clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which the Liberal government has never invoked and said they will not use. I believe we'll see that with us in the House of Commons because enough is enough of this stuff…
"I think most people are getting sick and tired of judges writing the law to suit themselves and to suit the current Liberal government, in fact.

"It's time that we started to exert our responsibility as politicians in the country. If the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is going to be used as the crutch to carry forward all of the issues that social libertarians want, then there's got to be for us conservatives out there a way to put checks and balances in there."


Minority groups in Canada fought hard for those rights that White dismisses, Martin said. "The Conservatives would arbitrarily take those rights away… rights that belong to all Canadians."
He said that the notwithstanding clause, which allows provincial and federal governments to overrule court rulings on rights guaranteed in the Charter, "has not been used by the Canadian government in 22 years since it came into being."

Once politicians start using it, Martin said, "it's easier to use it the next time" and eventually the Charter becomes a toothless document.

For its part, the NDP immediately sent out a news release pointing out that Martin should deal with the "intolerant extremists" in his own party as well as attacking those in Harper's camp.

The release directly quoted several Liberal MPs who oppose same-sex marriage. Two examples:


"I don't think the argument has been made that you need to blow up marriage in order to meet this equality issue and I've never been persuaded the courts should be involved in this," John McKay told the National Post in July 2003.
"This is a bogus human-rights issue," Pat O'Brien said in the Vancouver Sun in November 2003. "Trying to equate the black civil-rights movement [and] the women's rights movement with the demand for same-sex marriage is specious logic, at best."
The documentary for which White was interviewed is scheduled for release in August, but the Liberal party got hold of the footage and began to circulate it on Friday.

Could someone explain what this non-withstanding clause is?