Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Maybe Canada needs a face mask law?

In looking at the G20 protests in Toronto today, I've been doing some thinking, and I'm convinced that Canada needs to make it a Criminal Code offence to cover ones face in order to obscure one's identity.

I know this idea has been debated in the context of extremist Islam, where it's been proposed that Canada should ban the burka and any other religious face covering, as has been proposed in other nations. However, I don't think we need to go that far. Of course I firmly believe in religious rights, and think that Muslim women should be allowed the right to wear whatever they want, should they so choose... no matter how wrong I may believe they are in their faith.

However, I do agree that for the purposes of verifying their identitiy in the context of Government interaction, such as voting, getting a drivers license, etc., I believe that it should be mandatory to submit to a visual verification of their identity. Of course, there should be provisions made for this, such as ensuring that it's a woman doing the ID verification, along with privacy to do so, but these are reasonable compromises in my opinion.

Now, on to the other motivation for my proposal... that's right, you guessed it, to ensure that the illegal and criminal activities of protesters can be properly prosecuted. I think we should be making it as difficult as possible for people to be able to break our laws with impunity, simply because they've got a $1.00 piece of cloth in front of their faces. It would also cover the matter of protesters who have gas masks, which are worn for the express purpose of resisting the authority of our police services. Were we to make it illegal to obscure one's face for the purposes of avoiding identification, we can kill both birds with one single stone... the issues surrounding religious veils, AND around illegal protest tactics.

Such a law would easily survive a Charter challenge, as there is nothing within the Charter that guarentees the right to hide one's true identity. Such a law would not deny anyone's freedom of speech, nor their freedom of association, and therefore could not be struck down under those provisions of the Charter. Such a law would, however, give our police the tools they need to guarentee the rights of ALL OF US.

You see, the laws that were written to ensure our rights and freedoms have been blatantly abused by these protesters for too long now. In asserting their "rights", they have in fact denied many of us our own rights. With their blockades, their marches, their outlandish law-breaking tactics, they have many a time impeeded the rest of our rights, such as our own freedom of mobility, our ability to associate with those whom we choose to, and our right to say what we want to say... all in the name of their own "rights". Which, ironicly, is in many case the exact opposite of what they claim they're doing.

So to make a long story short, I think it's time that Canada considered a ban on tactics designed to obscure one's identity. It would serve as a deterance for some, knowing that they will be less likely to avoid the consequences of their actions. It would also ensure that the rights of the rest of us are protected, as those who choose to break the laws of our society will be properly prosecuted. For the vast majority of Candadians, I'd say about 99.9999% of us, such a law would be a WIN-WIN situation.

Plus it would be a thorn in the side of the extremist left... which then makes it a WIN-WIN-WIN situtation in my books.

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13 Comments:

  • At Sat Jun 26, 11:14:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Blame Crash said…

    We have enough laws as it is.

    What we really need is a Penal Colony on a secluded island in the farthest reaches of the Artic Ocean. One with plenty of Polar Bears.

    We also need the gonads to hold people accountable for their actions and use real punishment instead of the phony ideology that has been inflicted onto society by the new religion called the social sciences.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 11:52:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Frances said…

    If it's okay for a woman to keep her face covered in public, then it's equally okay for me to be able to refuse to serve Ms Anonymous. Otherwise, I'm at a serious disadvantage, unable to hear the woman clearly and vulnerable to any charges of racism that she wants to lay if I misunderstand her.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 12:29:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger maryT said…

    Read somewhere today that a taliban commander was killed, dressed in an afghan woman's clothing.
    No wonder they insist on veils.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 03:59:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Loyal Tory said…

    If I were as ugly as some of those nutty protesters I'd probably wear a mask too.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 04:44:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Cool Blue said…

    If I'm not mistaken it's already in there.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 04:46:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Rileysowner said…

    I agree. Just saw the update on the G20 protests, and saw the police car burning. They mentioned 3 protesters were seen to be injured, I say if they want to protest in a violent manner, they should expect that.

     
  • At Sat Jun 26, 06:54:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger maryT said…

    Greece has some islands for sale, perhaps we should invest in one and leave those terrorists on their own. No stores, tv, internet, phone or cell or grocery stores. Then put in a shark pool all around it.

     
  • At Sun Jun 27, 08:17:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Just being honest said…

    How about ditching political correctness, identity politics, the notion that Police arresting law breakers constitutes "provocation" and systematically enforcing the laws we have now.

     
  • At Sun Jun 27, 10:12:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Rural and Right said…

    Several states in the US enacted such a law many years ago to deal with the Ku Klux Klan ... mainly to expose closet racists.

    We do need a law to make it an arrestable offence to protest with a mask on.

     
  • At Sun Jun 27, 09:41:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous jgriffin316 said…

    Honest,

    The police are not there to enforce the law, the police are there to keep the peace. That's why Caledonia is still going on.

     
  • At Sun Jul 04, 09:35:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    How about a law for people with 2 faces like Harper?

     
  • At Sun Jul 04, 10:36:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Oooooh, that's so witty Anonymous... nothing like the mask of Anonyminity to avoid the public riducule a comment like that deserves.

     
  • At Thu May 31, 11:48:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Laurel L. Russwurm said…

    Actually, you're wrong. Bill 309, like Bill 78 in Quebec, would clearly be a violation of Canadian Charter rights.

    The Charter guarantees Canadians "Fundamental freedoms" including:

    "(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

    (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

    (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

    (d) freedom of association."

    Masks are not proof of anything.

    As pollution gets worse, it is more common to see people wearing masks against environmental hazards. Gas masks are articles of protective clothing. Mine cost a lot more than $1.00 and it protects me from hazardous chemical fumes I would otherwise have to breathe when painting. It is also proof against pesticide, so I have been known to wear it walking my dog.

    If people are breaking the law, they can be arrested, at which point the Charter no longer protects against coerced identification.

     

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