THUNDER BAY – Editorial – As the federal Conservatives are set to dismantle the long-gun registry, it certainly appears that the same mindset that created that boon-doggle is alive and well in Ottawa. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews states, on the Conservatives new effort to monitor the Internet that anyone who is opposed to the measure, “can either stand with us or with the child pornographers”.
Simply put that is beyond ridiculous.
Mr. Toews has, in a blanket statement, said everyone in Canada who uses the Internet is using it to view child pornography. It is a statement which is as insult to almost everyone who uses the Internet. It likely demonstrates that Mr. Toews is either the John McCain of the Conservative Party, or has no concept of the scope of what he is seeking. John McCain when running against Barrack Obama stated that he had never used the Internet.
The move by Minister Toews appears to demonstrate that the Conservatives have left their “less government” attitudes somewhere and now with a majority government are ready to brand all Canadians as dangerous.
The problem with Toews and his proposed “Internet Registry” is that it will violate fundamental freedoms of all Canadians, along with violate the privacy rights of all Canadians.
No one is suggesting that the government not go after child pornography, but the idea that the state should have unlimited and warrantless access to all the Internet activities of all Canadians is simply over the top.
The Conservatives might, through this legislation be making their hard-core base happy, but chances are they are turning off millions of Canadians in the process. Right now with a majority government and the next election a long ways off, that might seem like a good idea.
Toews however might consider that Alan Rock and the Liberals once thought the gun registry was a good idea too.
James Murray
Chief Content Officer