C3RF Member Update - 21 September, 2018
The curious case of MP Leona Alleslev

The House of Commons returned this week with "day 1" providing a surprise. MP Leona Alleslev stunned all by leaving the Liberals to cross over to the Conservatives. Why would such a poster-child for the Liberal Party's feminist and equality agendas "walk away" from the Party in power? After all, s he was a military veteran, a proven and successful hi-tech, business entrepreneur and a mother of two. All this and the fact that she was awarded a Parliamentary Secretary position (Public Services and Procurement) upon her entry into the House in 2015.

In her crossover speech she made reference to economic, trade, infrastructure and defence spending concerns but, interestingly, also depicted Canada as a Country "at risk" with a need to address challenges at "home and abroad". Indeed, she stressed up front that she felt compelled to fulfil her military oath to "serve and defend Canada, and the values for which it stands". Rather dramatic. What is going on?

It appears that the "wheels began to fall off" the Alleslev cart well before she left the Liberals. As early as January, 2017 she was shuffled out of her Parliamentary Secretary position. Was this an early indication that her stated attempts to influence Party policy had fallen on deaf ears? It may be coincidence but it is interesting to note that, from this time frame on, the Government of Canada was heavily involved in dealing with the controversial Motion M-103. It's approval of this Motion, in March of that year, was vehemently opposed by a majority of Canadians while follow-on "study period" testimony cautioned against the use of the term "Islamophobia". The term was seen as a Trojan Horse for the introduction of Sharia speech codes. Did MP Alleslev see the Motion as a threat to the values that she was sworn to protect? Did she lobby against the Motion as a loyal member should - within the Liberal Party apparatus?

It would be easy to say that Motion M-103 had nothing to do with MP Alleslev's floor-crossing but there is another piece of the puzzle that works against such an assessment. Fact is that, in March of the following year, C3RF mounted a successful campaign to disabuse the Government of its idea to institute a " National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia". This campaign included a letter-writing component that targeted Liberal MPs with military or security backgrounds. The aim was to appeal to their demonstrated patriotism and oaths of service and request they push back on a special day dedicated to reminding Canadians that they were both bigoted and Islamophobic. At the end of the day and due to your participation, the "day against Islamophobia" was put on the backburner and is no longer a Government priority. By the way, MP Alleslev's name was at the top of the list of Liberal MPs that were targeted. Did C3RF's campaign influence MP Alleslev to cross the floor? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing is sure; without the letter-writing campaign the question could not even be asked. C3RF members "showed up" by participating in an effort to influence MPs such as Ms. Alleslev and they did the country a service by doing so.
Success in the "Manzillian" human rights case!

C3RF goes from a possible success to a real triumph when we take a look at the "manzillian" case raised in last week's update. Recall that it referenced a young aesthetician who was being taken to the BC Human Rights Tribunal for running afoul of Canada's newest "ground for discrimination" - "gender identity and expression". Her crime was apologetically refusing her "waxing" services to a trans-woman presenting as a male with related genitalia . We can now identify this young lady, a single mother of a two-year old daughter, as Shelah Poyer.

Shelah was fortunate in that the excellent, pro-bono legal services of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) were made available to her. In addition, C3RF swung immediately into action to offer public advocacy on her behalf in the form of petitions, letter-writing campaigns and Member of Parliament interventions. C3RF liaised with the JCCF and other like-minded organizations, such as the Concerned Citizens for Responsible Government (CC4RG), to develop a coordinated strategy to help her fight the charge of "discrimination". There can be little doubt that the aggressive defence that was mounted on her behalf was instrumental in seeing these charges dropped and Shelah left alone to get on with her life . To her credit, Shelah gave C3RF permission to use her name in this update to better ensure that other Canadians do not have to go through the worry and anxiety that she was forced to endure.

We congratulate Shelah and the JCCF on their success. We also acknowledge the efforts of Barbara Kay who brought the case to international attention through her related column. Finally but most importantly, we thank the C3RF membership for providing this organization with the support required to enter into the fray and fight for Shelah's Charter Rights and Freedoms on their behalf. It is their continued support that allows C3RF to engage and win such battles.
Premier Ford opens "can of worms" in the form of the "notwithstanding" clause

Talk about putting the cat amongst the pigeons. Premier Ford took the country by the lapels and gave it a good, and long overdue, shake when he declared the "notwithstanding" clause. He did so to countermand a judges decision that struck down a Bill that would see the number of Toronto councilors trimmed. This decision was less than constitutional, according to an array of legal experts, and cited Premier Ford's "pique" as a factor in it's formulation .

The arguments used by Premier Ford's critics include the misinformed notion that use of section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is somehow unconstitutional. Fact is, there would be no Charter without the "notwithstanding" clause as three Western premiers would not have signed onto it without it's inclusion. These Premiers; Lyon, Lougheed and Blakeney, saw the need to provide a people's check and balance on judicial activism. Were they correct? You bet they were and we can see now that the failure to use this check has rewarded special interest groups with benefits at the expense of fundamental, individual rights through judicial fiat. One startling example of this is the Supreme Court's decision to "balance" away freedom of religion and conscience to Trinity Western University law students so that the sensibilities of the LGBT group might be assuaged .
Regular feature - C3RF Twitter highlights

This week's C3RF Twitter highlights are based on Premier Ford's declaration of the "notwithstanding" clause. In doing so he brushed back the longstanding and unopposed, until now, tendency for Canadian courts to make, rather than interpret, laws. This reality has seen the judiciary step ahead of the will of the people to give them ill informed social constructs such as "gender identity and expression" . Here's a smattering of related tweets:











Ongoing operations and trends

C3RF continues to coordinate efforts with like-minded groups and organizations to protect your fundamental Charter rights and freedoms. These efforts have hit pay dirt in the case of Shelah Poyer and her fight against "gender identity and expression" transgressions. With your support, we will continue such efforts even as we seek to educate the Canadian public on threats to their treasured fundamental and individual rights and freedoms.

For those of you who have recently contributed to our coffers, thank you very much. We cannot continue to operate and progress such initiatives without such aid. Having said that, we could certainly use a lot more of it from all others and hope you can contribute towards making a difference. If you are able to make a monthly donation, no matter how small, even $5/month, it will help us plan our finances and provide funding for a rainy day which is sure to come.

And while you're considering making a difference, please follow C3RF on Twitter on Facebook and on our web site and share with friends our great content and a realistic outlook on the continuing battle for Charter Rights in Canada .

Major Russ Cooper (Ret'd)
Co-Chair C3RF