Margaret Atwood: “A Second Change Or A Boot in the Face”

What a great read I had when I was pointed to Margaret Atwood’s article in response to the brutish violence that Canada and the world had to endure last week (source:  another Progressive Blogger, although I can’t remember who).

What astounds me about this article is that it was published in the Glob and Fail.  Are they trying to protect themselves, particularly given the backlash they keep getting every time the let Christie Belchforth open her mouth?

Atwood hints at some important questions, which I’ll reformulate here:

• Why didn’t the police forces arrest the few people who were actually destroying public property, including well-placed and abandoned police cars?  Did they not want to arrest their own kind?
• Who was calling the shots on the whole affair?
• To what extent was Stephen Harper involved with the decision making process?  The police were mostly provincial and municipal employees, but rumours are swirling that the operation was handled out of an office far from downtown Toronto.  Were Canadian politicians even remotely close to some of the decisions being made?
• Why are we spending so much money on incarceration and security?  Are they signs of things to come for all Canadians, even if they are law-abiding and simply disagreeing with Harper?

Ultimately, here’s my issue:  last week, Canadians lost the right to free assembly.

What Constitutional Right will we lose next?

Demand and hold an inquiry, but make sure we’re asking the right questions and we’re not just pissing away more taxpayer dollars.  We need to find out why our government no longer believes in the Canadian Constitution because one right denied is the equivalent of ALL rights denied.