Straight Thoughts 147

The politics of exclusion
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If I told you that a party in Canada, say the Liberal party, wanted to exclude access to taxpayers money and public resources to another party, say the Communist party of Canada, because it deemed communist policies “contrary to the Canadian Charter”, would you believe it?What if the same party wanted to exclude from government ANY other party that does not hold liberal values, could you believe such a motion would even be considered?
Let’s transfer our focus to the students at a Canadian University, our future leaders, learning about democracy and self-regulation.The students at Carleton University in Ottawa, through their student association (CUSA), will vote on a motion to “stop discrimination” at Carleton by discriminating against anyone who does not agree with a particular “illuminated” opinion.Whether this opinion is held by a minority or (worse) by a majority, the motion IS itself autocratic (i.e.: acquiring authority by self proclamation), coercive and undemocratic, characteristic of a dictatorship.
Acquiring power by exclusion of the opponents, and holding power by self-proclamation will go a long way to define you as a fascist.
As an expression of the students’ ability to learn and practice democracy, politics and self-regulation, just the fact that the motion is on the table spells volumes about the state of “civic education” in our schools.
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The actual issue: abortion
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The motion presented by the “pro-choice” students wants to exclude pro-life groups at the University from “resources, space, recognition or funding” (which the pro-abortion groups receive).
The issue of abortion in Canada is controversial. Neither side can legally claim victory, as there is no law on abortion, since the Mulroney government was unable to pass a restrictive law on abortion by one vote.
The victories for the pro-abortion movement came through court decisions, not as the expression of the will of the people through legislation.
The current legal state (lack of a law) allows people performing abortions to continue the practice without prosecution.
For a student body to claim that opposition to abortion is “un-constitutional” denotes ignorance and deception.For them to try to exclude the opposition by motions and manipulation is typical of fascism.