Justice quota ...

IS THERE A JUSTICE QUOTA?
A commentary on recent agreements to
Provide compensation to some victims of
Canadian Government -- unfair actions.
By Victor Drummond ©
July 2008

It should be obvious to any person with average, or higher, intelligence that when hindsight reveals a serious incident -- of unfair, unreasonable, unjust, unwarranted and/or punitive consequences – due to any Canadian government action/inaction that corrective measures are needed without delay.

The apology, and compensation package awarded the horribly abused Japanese Canadians, for their mistreatment during WWII, came to pass on September 22 1988, under the conservative government of Brian Mulroney.

Some feel that Prime Minister Mulroney was inspired to take this action by the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan who had made a similar gesture to the Japanese Americans.

I prefer to believe Mulroney merely used the US action to pave the way for the Canadian Government to do the proper and honourable thing – without facing stiff opposition in Canada’s Parliament.

Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, reinforced this belief when he announced an apology and compensation agreement had been reached with Canada’s First Nations’ people who had been terribly mistreated via the parochial residential schools policy.

A cynic could say the agreement to compensate residential school victims was merely a public relations stunt motivated more to make the conservative party more popular both inside and outside the First Nations voting blocks – than it was to satisfy any sense of guilt or honour.

Both the Japanese Canadian population and the First Nations Canadian population do contain a significant number of eligible voters.

Victims of the ESPP/ESO taxable benefit rip-off, who were not recognized by the SDL/JDSU Tax Remission Order, (TRO), might understandably feel this way – because:-

After all is said and done the Prime Minister, and the National Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Revenue, among other Members of Canada’s Federal Parliament, have all been made well aware of the injustice, and financial hardship imposed upon a voting minority of Canada’s citizens.

Above and beyond that denial of justice is the fact that these government officials have acknowledged by their actions – granting a TRO to some 30 former SDL/JDSU, ESPP/ESO
Employees – which they realize this tax has been, and still is, more punitive than justified.

Was it worse – at the individual level – when a Japanese Canadian was removed from their home and sent where they didn’t wish to go as compared to an innocent Canadian Taxpayer who is financially decimated by an unwarranted tax and has to sell their home?

They both have to start over to build their lives and financial security.

In my opinion only the magnitude of the atrocity is different but is much the same at the individual level.

It appears apparent the present federal government has exhausted it’s quota of justice for this term.

If re-elected -- without duress -- there has been no indication the Stephen Harper conservatives intend to honour the commitment -- implied in several public announcements made in 2007 – of providing “all honest, hard-working Canadians with fair and equalized taxation.”

The reputation for fair, honest, and dependable administration does not seem to be adequate to bring any of the Canadian Federal Politicians to the point of commitment to correct the taxable benefit legislation and fairly compensate those victimized by it.

Perhaps in Canada’s 141 year history there have been incidents where corrective action has been implemented by federal political parties – other than the conservatives – but I haven’t heard of one lately.

Perhaps the grits and/or the NDP, and/or the Green Party would like to make up this move to justice inequality.

That is why every one of my articles posted to this blog page call for readers to contact their MP, and ask family members and friends to do the same in the hope that given sufficient voter pressure the government, and those who aspire to become our government, may up the current term justice quota and commit to correcting this un-Canadian atrocity.

At least those who have recently received some form of corrective action -- because of their mistreatment -- know how it feels to be abused and ignored.

Now is their, and your, opportunity to take action and assist another minority group of abused Canadians obtain fair compensation.

Begin by visiting “Canadians for Fair and Equalized Taxation”, (CFET), at http://www.cfet.ca and following the links to the petition.

Read the comments of those who have signed the CFET petition and the links to articles published on this topic in Canadian Newspapers.

See you at the next federal election voting polls O’Grady.

Victor Drummond ©