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   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   The Supreme Court.   
   _________________________________________   
   Lawrence Martin - Special to The Globe and Mail - Tuesday, Jul. 01 2014   
      
   The Supreme Court is Harper’s real Opposition   
      
      
   Worried on this Canada Day that an overbearing government is trying to   
   change the country too much?   
   Bothered that civil liberties are being sacrificed, that the government   
   is trying to impose a moral code, that big monied interests are being   
   catered to at the expense of the disadvantaged?   
      
   If so, you might find comfort in the work of our Supreme Court. Its   
   rulings give it the look of standard-bearer for the proverbial little   
   guy, the underdog’s ally.  Its progressive orientation runs up against   
   the Conservatives’ intent.  Not by design, but in effect, it has become   
   the Official Opposition in Ottawa, outdoing the New Democrats and Liberals.   
      
      
   Look at the recent decisions. . . . .   
      
   Last week, the court delivered a major boost to the rights of native   
   peoples with its landmark decision on land claims and aboriginal title.   
   The decision gives First Nations broad bargaining powers and   
   significantly complicates Ottawa’s resource development schemes. In the   
   same week, the court struck a blow for labour rights, siding with the   
   union representing former Wal-Mart employees in a dispute over compensation.   
      
   On privacy rights, the court recently denied police the right to   
   subscriber information from Internet service providers without a   
   warrant.  Earlier, it stood up for the rights of sex workers, striking   
   down anti-prostitution laws. And for those who feel the Conservatives   
   have gone overboard with their throw-them-in-the-slammer take on   
   criminal justice, there’s been Supreme Court resistance as well.  Recent   
   rulings have challenged mandatory minimums and other aspects of the   
   government’s crime legislation.   
      
   How the Conservatives feel about most of these judgments does not have   
   to be spelled out.   
      
   Court watchers are hard-pressed to remember another time when there’s   
   been such a sharp ideological divide.   
      
   For Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it’s doubly exasperating.  He has   
   long been an opponent of judicial activism and the weight justices have   
   accorded the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He can complain, but a   
   majority of the Supreme Court’s justices are his own appointments.   
   While his picks have been seen as somewhat more conservative than those   
   made by Liberal prime ministers, the justices have failed to do his bidding.   
      
   Like most prime ministers, Mr. Harper seeks to impose his biases. His   
   ideology runs stronger than others, however, and he is up against a   
   court that tends to reflect Canadians’ centrist traditions. This has led   
   to more contrast – and more conflict.   
      
   The conflict was compounded when the court dealt a public embarrassment   
   to the Prime Minister by rejecting Marc Nadon, his Supreme Court nominee   
   from Quebec.  The court drove a dagger into his plans for Senate reform   
   with a ruling that said such reform would require constitutional   
   amendment.  It would likely have shredded his electoral reform bill had   
   it not been substantially changed.   
      
   It’s hardly a surprise that progressives are hailing the performance of   
   Big Bench.  “The court clearly understands what Canada is about,â€� one   
   judge told me, “and they will not let this government cut its heart out.   
     Unlike in the U.S., our Supreme Court really does act as a responsible   
   check against ideological excesses of the government of the day.  And   
   unlike the U.S., our court has not been undermined by being politicized.â€�   
      
   That he didn’t politicize the court with more ideologically charged   
   appointments may come to be one of Mr. Harper’s biggest regrets.   
      
   In his years in power, he’s been able to bring many of Ottawa’s other   
   institutions to heel.  The big exception is the Supreme Court.  It is   
   the chief negator of his agenda.   
      
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