Liberties and Freedoms

Continuing my comments from yesterday regarding the Government's proposed internet legislation, I found this very interesting column this morning in the Globe and Mail by Lorna Dueck. I think her opinions are well written and well thought-out, but ultimately, for me at least, not altogether convincing. I am not a libertarian, or a conservative and I generally favor the NDP approach to issues and to society. But I am increasingly concerned both with the growth encroachments on our privacies and the growing amount of unregulated police powers. Certainly I will support anything I can to catch those who engage in child pornography and those who are victimized by it. Drawing the line between privacy and catching criminals is something that requires a civil public discussion, not the cant and bluster each side has evidenced, especially the Harper Government's increasing use of the tactics of fear and demonization of its' opponents. This is not democracy but a shift to a form autocracy and rule by elites, with the rest of us muzzled or bamboozled.