OTTAWA, March 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Stephen Harper, the former Leader of the Canadian Alliance, was voted in this weekend as the Leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada. While Harper has not promised to raise pro-life or pro-family legislation he has promised to allow such legislation to be introduced by others and to permit free votes, a vast improvement over the Chretien Liberal regime.
With the recent ramming of the Reproductive Technologies Bill C-6 through the Senate and the Liberal hierarchy’s continuing support for Svend Robinson’s repressive Bill-C-250, the Harper alternative is certain to grow in attractiveness over the continuing democratic deficit under Chretien successor Paul Martin. Another major change in Canadian politics, especially given the Supreme Court’s tendency for judicial activism, is the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci who is to step down at the end of June 2004. With Justice Louise Arbour leaving for the United Nations Human Rights Commission, there will be two vacant seats on the Supreme Court after June. Prime Minister Paul Martin has indicated that there would be some scrutiny of the selections for the Supreme Court by MPs. However, the PM’s exact plans on this are still unclear. The replacement of the Supreme Court justices will be a major test of Martin’s supposed commitment to avoid the autocratic ruling method of his predecessors.