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To: seamole
The War Measures Act was repealed in 1988. It was replaced with the Emergencies Act. The Emergencies Act allows the federal government to make temporary laws in the event of a serious national emergency. The Emergencies Act differs from the War Measures Act in two important ways:
A declaration of an emergency by the Cabinet must be reviewed by Parliament
Any temporary laws made under the Act are subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Thus any attempt by the government to suspend the civil rights of Canadians, even in an emergency, will be subject to the "reasonable and justified" test under section 1 of the Charter.
13 posted on 02/11/2003 9:00:03 AM PST by Snowyman
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To: Snowyman
The War Measures Act was repealed in 1988. It was replaced with the Emergencies Act.
Actually, Trudeau replaced the War Measures Act with the Emegency Planning Order in the early 80s. The Emergency planning Order gave cabinet the power to declare emergencies without parliamentary scrutiny and gave cabinet the authority to suspend civil liberties, ban all movement, seize private property, conduct warrentless searches and establish civilian internment camps. It was repealed in 1988 by Brian Mulroney and replaced with the Emergencies Act.

Thus any attempt by the government to suspend the civil rights of Canadians, even in an emergency, will be subject to the "reasonable and justified" test under section 1 of the Charter.
Given the Supreme Court's track record for interpreting what constitutes "reasonable and justified" limits on our freedom and the fact that Supreme Court justices are appointed at the sole discretion of the PM, the "protections" of the Charter aren't worth the paper they're printed on. The Charter was written by Pierre Trudeau after all, and he deliberately framed it to make it useless.

14 posted on 02/11/2003 12:27:42 PM PST by Squawk 8888 (Everyone knows you can't have a successful conspiracy without a Rockefeller)
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