“a simplistic great-fool theory of history.”
Peter H. Russell, Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadians Be a Sovereign People? [re people blaming Mulroney’s ambition to outdo Pierre Trudeau for the Meech Lake debacle]
“The first thing worth noting is that the drafters of the Charter titled this first section ‘Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms.’ In other words, the intended purpose of the opening section is to underline that the rights and freedoms laid out in the Charter are guaranteed. But, if you look at almost every judgement that wrestles with this section, talk to almost any lawyer, or consult most government websites, they instead call the section ‘The Limitations Clause’ or ‘The Reasonable Limits Clause.’ That is a very different focus! And that betrays the problem: the legal culture in Canada has focused on the phrase ‘reasonable limits’ instead of ‘guarantees the rights and freedoms.’ That changes the analysis before we even start.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“The Charter protects citizens from civil government, but it does not police interactions between citizens themselves. The Charter is a shield that protects the citizen from the state, not a sword to be wielded by the state against the citizen.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
In my latest Epoch Times column, I say Justin Trudeau is half-right that his job is not to be popular.
“One man, John Hampton, refused to pay [the “ship money”], and his case went to court. The question was how far the king’s ‘discretionary power to act for the common good’ extended. The lawyer for Mr. Hampton argued that ‘If the king alone was the judge of whether an emergency existed, and also the sole judge of the scope of his prerogative in that situation, then no English subject had any rights.’ But the king said, in effect, ‘I get to say if there’s an emergency, I get to say what is necessary to address the emergency, and I get to keep secret how I act and spend during the emergency. And no one gets to challenge or question my prerogative.’ Sir Edward Crawley, the king’s lawyer, argued that ‘necessity, as assessed by the king, was always superior to the law of the land.’ How did the court respond? Lord Justice Berkley, writing for a majority of the court, said that if Mr. Hampton’s arguments were accepted, the result would be a ‘king-yoking policy.’ He then declared he ‘never heard that lex was rex but rather the reverse, for the king was lex loquens, a living, speaking, acting law.’ As legal historian Ryan Alford notes, following the Court’s logic in this case, ‘Parliament could never bind the king, since he could operate above the statutes whenever he declared an emergency, even in peacetime. On this logic, [the king] was not even bound by Magna Carta.’ Parliament was furious.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“It bears repeating over and over that, when we talk about freedom, we are not talking about the right to do whatever we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, with whomever we want. And that's not the freedom that the original author of our national anthem, writing in 1880, would have had in mind either. Unfortunately, this is what many in our culture understand freedom to mean. But the ‘I get to do whatever I want’ type of freedom is no freedom at all, but rather slavery to our passions. (John 8:34-36 Rom. 6, 1 Peter 2:16 2 Peter 2:19). It describes radical personal autonomy, which isn't at all what the Bible describes. Look at the 10 commandments, for example. Does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now live as you please! Let every man do as he sees fit!’ Certainly not. If God said that, the nation of Israel would descend into chaos. But neither does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now, live under the crushing weight and drudgery of my law.’ No, God has set us free, and then He gives us the code by which freed people can live together and flourish!”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
In my latest Epoch Times column I argue that the main governmental problem in Canada isn’t who we entrust with power, it’s the amount of power we entrust them with.
“This is what ordered liberty gives us: a game with rules, making it understandable, playable, and enjoyable, but also infinitely complex, filled with endless variation and diversity. But without rules governing the play and interactions on or off the board, it would be meaningless. Likewise, when talking about freedom in a biblical sense, we are talking about the freedom to do as we are called to do. There are rules for our good, to give us the freedom to carry out our responsibilities, the duties of our offices and callings, willingly and faithfully. Lord Acton was correct: ‘Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do as we ought.’ And even more than that, freedom is living the way we were created to live, as image bearers of God.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition [following a surprisingly sensible chess analogy].