Did you hear how the Conservatives are cancelling a bunch of programs, such as the Court Challenges Program? I mean, I had issues with the transparency of the funding but I don't think cancelling it is the way to go. Apparently they had issues with taxpayer money funding challenges to laws, but unfortunately, even though laws are enacted by people put in power by the people, there's still a lot of crap out there.

Unfortunately, popular opinion does not always determine what is "right". Just look at our neighbours down south. Many states are starting to enact abortion laws that are so strict, they will not even permit abortions when the health of the mother is at risk, or if she was a victim of rape or incest. There is also the Patriot Act. And in Canada, our Immigration and Refugee "Protection" Act permits the indefinite detention of people based on little cause.

History has shown that the popular electorate have often put into place laws, that with hindsight, we now realize were wrong. The history of slavery and segregation in the states, the inability of women to vote, the headtax on Chinese immigrants in Canada, the lack of legal aid funding in Canada. Yes, these laws were eventually repealed. But often, change was done through the judicial system, before popular opinion had swung to support the positions being advanced.

Having done a bit of pro bono work, I also have to say that there is a disheartening number of people who do not get access to the legal system. And I definitely do not believe that just because someone has not brought the case, means that it was not a good one/people did not believe in it to begin with. In fact, I think there are still many worthy cases out there that need to be brought.

Take the example of emergency contraception. This needs to be taken within 72 hours to be effective, or within 24 hours to get maximum effectiveness. It is now available over the counter, but before, when it needed a prescription, Catholic run hospitals refused to dispense this unless the woman was raped. In addition, the increasing consolidation of hospitals (in Toronto for example, St. Mike's took over what used to be Wellesley Hospital), the access to emergency contraception/abortion services has been reduced. More disturbingly, medical students who end up doing their internship at these hospitals are not taught how to do abortions - and all these hospitals are funded with government money. This is happening all over Canada, with women facing increasing difficulty in being able to access abortion services. (I also vaguely remember abortion not being covered by provincial healthcare, or maybe it was that if you moved out of province e.g. as a student, you had a 3 month waiting period. Which is useless for a procedure that is time-sensitive and abortions are expensive.) No one has yet brought a case about this in Canada. Is it an important issue? I damn well think so. The problem may be though, that many women doesn't know about this problem. It's not well-publicized, plus, it has political aspects to it. The people who need this the most are women who live in rural areas and do not have the funds to go seek a clinic that is located far away from where they live. They are not going to have the funds to mount a long and lengthy court battle.

Even with the court challenges program, the disadvantaged face an uphill battle. Having worked in the Constitutional Law Branch, I can say those people are insanely smart and work insanely hard. They deal with constitutional law every day - how likely is joe schmo, retaining some second-rate lawyer, going to win a constitutional battle against these guys? Only the high profile cases, where the top & well-known lawyers get involved, have a real chance of success. One of my friends, who is now clerking, was telling me about this case which should have won, but the lawyer was an idiot. In the indefinite detention case, I was told that one of the lawyer initially handling the case was an idiot. Luckily, Barb Jackman & other good people signed on when it got to the SCC level.

What really bothers me, is that the Conservatives also cut funds to many non-profit groups, such as the Status of Women committee. Although I believe challenges to laws are necessary for change, what is equally important are grass roots organizations that look into inequities, and try to educate/lobby people about these problems. So the Conservatives did a double-whammy, they cut funds for people to challenge laws, but they also cut funds for groups that do research into what laws should be challenged. I still get so incredibly mad just thinking about it. I mean, in the context of the amount of the entire budget, the amount of these programs was minimal. This was so not a funding decision, but a political decision to severely damage the ability of groups who don't fall in line with the Conservatives' views.

One of my friends once commented that laws are put in place by people of power to keep them in power. After three years of being immersed in the law, I agree with her 100%.

The whole legal and political infrastructure is weighed against the people who need it the most. How many people campaign to raise minimum wage so that people don't need to work two jobs just to be able to scrape by? How many politicians have made promises to remedy the situation of Aboriginal people, many who still live in third world conditions? How often do you hear of politicians actually doing something, so that immigrants with PhDs don't need to drive cabs? The truth is, politicians are often helped into power by the wealthy, by people who have the resources to canvass volunteers to go out & get the electorate to vote for them. These politicians, when they get elected into office, then repay the wealthy by enacting laws that benefit them. I mean, how many laws have truly, really, lead to real and meaningful change for the disadvantaged? And how many laws have oppressed minority groups in the country?

Dammit, everytime something else the Conservatives are doing while they're in power (like the dangerous offender thing, but that's another post) it just makes me so pissed off.