Juno News - Politicians are drunk with power

In the face of withering criticism, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador have passed a new law giving police sweeping new powers that will allow the police to enter any building, stop any vehicle, and forcibly remove non-residents from the province in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus.

00:00:00.000 News that broke yesterday that Newfoundland and Labrador have passed a new law giving police

00:00:11.340 sweeping new powers that will allow the police to enter any building, stop any vehicle, and

00:00:17.840 forcibly remove non-residents from the province in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus.

00:00:23.860 In essence, they are throwing out decades of jurisprudence and neutered the Charter of Rights

00:00:30.380 and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights passed in 1960.

00:00:36.920 In the face of withering criticism, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador clarified that

00:00:43.740 police will still need a warrant to enter a dwelling house, but that changes little.

00:00:50.780 Using a warrant for something that is not a criminal offence is in itself offensive.

00:00:57.940 I should add that Newfoundland and Labrador has had a grand total of 259 confirmed cases

00:01:04.860 of the coronavirus and only three deaths.

00:01:09.500 Section 8 of the Charter specifically says that all Canadians have the right against unreasonable

00:01:16.220 search and seizure.

00:01:18.520 In 1997, no lesser authority than the Supreme Court of Canada held in R. V. Feeney that

00:01:25.700 police are not permitted to enter a dwelling house without a warrant to arrest somebody they

00:01:31.960 believed had committed a crime.

00:01:34.980 This led to Parliament to amend the Criminal Code of Canada in Section 529 in what is otherwise

00:01:40.600 known as a Feeney Warrant, which essentially says that someone the police want to take into

00:01:45.820 custody, someone who is in a dwelling house, the police have to satisfy a judge or a justice

00:01:52.460 of the peace that the person is located in the home and has committed or is about to commit

00:01:58.620 a criminal offence.

00:02:00.780 Newfoundland's new law also allows police to remove a quote non-resident unquote of the

00:02:07.960 province and forcibly put them on a ferry to the mainland.

00:02:12.000 I've read the Bill of Rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and for that matter

00:02:17.300 the US Constitution and the Magna Carta, and nowhere does it say in any of those documents

00:02:24.180 that governments of any stripe can suspend rights of citizens at will.

00:02:30.720 The left, who want more authority for government, will spout that Section 1 of the Charter is

00:02:36.620 the authority for governments to do just that, but that is just plain nonsense.

00:02:44.400 Section 1 of the Charter says this,

00:02:46.960 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in

00:02:52.340 it, subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified

00:03:00.660 in a free and democratic society.

00:03:03.980 Reasonable limits, and demonstrably justified, are the operative words.

00:03:09.940 English common law defines a man's home as his castle.

00:03:14.380 Newfoundland's new law says the police can invade your castle at will, and even seize custody

00:03:20.460 of people found within, all without any judicial input or authority.

00:03:27.220 Canada is not a police state, it is a country guided by the rule of law, at least it should

00:03:32.900 be.

00:03:33.900 But what we have seen in the weeks since we were instructed by governments to self-isolate

00:03:40.280 for a period of initially 14 days is way over the top.

00:03:45.100 Most of us have been self-isolating for 45 days or more, thus far.

00:03:50.720 We haven't got the virus, and neither does the Prime Minister who is still hiding out in

00:03:54.680 Rideau Cottage.

00:03:55.680 Then there's the matter of the 5.8 million in fines issued for violations of social distancing

00:04:03.280 guidelines for things like walking dogs or playing with their kids in the playground.

00:04:10.460 Last week, friends of mine wanted to take their family out on their sailboat, just for the weekend.

00:04:18.100 Sail over to a little cove, drop the anchor, have a barbecue, and just get rid of the stress

00:04:23.440 of everything these days, and come back the next day.

00:04:28.820 They were stopped by the Coast Guard, just past the Lions Gate Bridge, and told to turn

00:04:34.900 around and return to their marina.

00:04:37.840 The Coast Guard.

00:04:40.100 Where did they get the authority to tell anyone they can't be out on their boat, assuming all

00:04:45.040 regular safety regulations are adhered to?

00:04:50.340 The five people in this family, mom, dad, and the three kids, all lived together in the

00:04:56.100 same house.

00:04:57.820 They were out on the water.

00:04:59.600 What was the risk they presented to anyone, especially since public health officers have

00:05:06.600 told us that being outside is probably the safest place to be?

00:05:11.460 I don't get these jumped up little toads who suddenly think they are all powerful.

00:05:16.920 Yes, there is a pandemic that we seem to have under control, and some governments are starting

00:05:24.340 to relax regulations, albeit very slowly.

00:05:29.860 This is Canada.

00:05:31.360 I am sick and tired of politicians, drunk with power, thinking they can dictate to Canadians,

00:05:38.360 because that is what this has become.

00:05:43.400 For True North, I'm Leo Knight.

Juno News - May 09, 2020

Politicians are drunk with power

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