TSG_Asmodeus

Just days before the 2006 election Stephen Harper made an extraordinary statement. Seeking to assure Canadians a potential Conservative majority government would be restrained from accruing “absolute power,” Harper submitted that his party would face “limits” because of “checks,” naming specifically courts, civil servants and the Senate.

His words would prove prescient. The majority government Harper’s party eventually formed in 2011 was held accountable by various democratic actors and lost 15 significant court cases, mostly for violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The assurance was justified.

Current Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is offering no such assurance. In fact, he is doing the opposite; just this week Poilievre offered encouragement to protesters promoting extreme positions on the purpose of government.

This raises the stakes of the next election as Poilievre’s politics represent a radical departure from the norms of Canadian decency, decorum and democracy.

Jama said Thursday she isn't afraid of further repercussions from the legislature.

"The focus should be on the genocide, the fact that 40,000 people have been killed and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight against this violence," she said. The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, at least two-thirds of them children and women.

In January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide in its war in Gaza and said it won't throw out genocide charges against Israel for its military offensive in Gaza as part of its preliminary decision. Israel has rejected the genocide claim outright.