December 16, 1952
THE FISHERMAN
Page 5
Criminal Code Changes Threaten Democracy
Criminal Code Amendments Outlaw Strikes, Picketing, Civil Rights, Termed Terrible and Drastic'
The present Criminal Code of Canada has been in effect for 60 years without any overhaul. In February, 1949, the Federal Government set up a Criminal Code Revision Commission to clarify the Code. Bill H-8 is a redraft of their report by the Dept. of Justice. If adopted, it will make sweeping changes in the criminal law of Canada. The proposed changes would restrict the ciyil rights of every citizen of this country, but they are especially dangerous to trade unionists.
Space limitations makes impossible a detailed analysis of the Bill and its implications. There are 748 clauses in all, but we present here a brief outline of the main points, how they affect us as citizens and union members and what some Canadians, prominent in public life, think of them.
"PROPOSED SECTION 49:
1. Everyone who does a prohibited act for a purpose prejudicial to
(a) the safety or interests of Canada, or
(b) the safety or security of the naval, army or air forces of any state other than Canada that are lawfully present in Canada, is guilty of an indictable offense and is liable to imprisonment for ten years.
2. In this section, "prohibted act means an act or omission that
(a) impairs the efficiency or impedes the working of any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, machinery, apparatus or other thing, or
(b) causes property, by whomsoever it may be owned, to be lost, damaged or destroyed."
As workers are well aware, the > courts have a peculiar habit of
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identifying the "interests of Canada" with the interests of the employers of Canada. Any strike "impedes the working of machinery"; that is the purpose of a strike. It follows, then, that this clause could be used to outlaw any strike, anywhere in Canada, with a ten-year jail term for those on strike.
Here are some quotes on this clause:
* * *
"STANLEY KNOWLES, M.P.
. . . would a legal strike be capable of being interpreted as an act which might impede the efficiency of certain machinery or apparatus and therefore be illegal under this section?
* * *
"THE HON. STUART GAR-SON, M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney-General: Is not the test of the point which my hon. friend raises as to whether the prohibited act is done for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Canada . . .?"
(House of Commons Debates,
June, 1951, p. 4676).
* * *
"THE HON. ARTHUR W. ROEBUCK: What are the interests of Canada? _ Are they the interests of sections of Canada, all the people of Canada, or the government of Canada?
This is a dandy piece of legislation to use in case of a strike. Any plant would qualify under this. It would cover any act or omission that impairs the efficiency or impedes the working of any plant in any town, city or elsewhere. . . . That is new legislation which is terrible and drastic."
(Senate of Canada debate, June 1951, pp. 746-7).
(Mr. Roebuck is a Canadian
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UTILITY WORKERS
The above is not enough, apparently; In fact, it is only the beginning. The workers in public utilities are singled out for special attention. Let us consider the following:
"PROPOSED SECTION 365: Everyone who wilfully breaks a contract, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable consequences of doing so, whether alone or in combination with others, will-be
(d) to deprive the inhabitants of a city or place, or part thereof, wholly or in great extent, of their supply of light, power, gas or water, or
(e) to delay or prevent the running of a locomotive engine, tender, freight or passenger train or car, on a railway, is guilty of
(f) an indictable offense and is liable to imprisonment for five years, or
(g) an offense punishable on summary conviction."
COMMENTS
Following is a despatch from the Toronto Daily Star, dated June 20, 1952:
"Proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, now before the Senate standing committee on banking and commerce as Bill H-8, could be interpreted and used against the freedom of trade unionists," said L. H. Rosen, secretary of the legislative committee, to the ^Toronto District Trades and Labor Council (AFL- TLC) last night.
"This proposed Bill must be given careful consideration by ail unions and their leadership," he said. "The potentialities of this Bill are immense in the sense that it can be used by the enemies of labor to stifle and exterminate the trade union movement."
"Specific reference was made to Section 365, which provides for a five-year sentence . . .
"Recalling that during the TTC (streetcar) strike there had been much talk about compulsory arbitration, James O. Robertson, business agent, Street Railway and Motor Coach Employees Union,
said the proposed amendment would have exactly the same effect as compulsory arbitration."
PICKETING OUTLAWED
Allied with the right of striking is the right to picket. How does the right to picket make out? This brings us to another section:
PROPOSED SECTION 372: 1. Everyone commits mischief who wilfully
(a) destroys or damages property.
(b) renders property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective,
(c) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property, or
. (d) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful use, enjoyment or opera-lion of property."
The penalty: for danger to life, life imprisonment; for danger to public property, fourteen years' imprisonment; for danger to private property, five years' prison; for an "act of omission" (failure to do something which the court thinks you should have done), five years in jail.
THOMAS C. ROBERTS, National Executive Secretary League for Democratic Rights, says, "Obviously picketing 'by striking workers could be covered by these new proposals, particularly since neither the right to strike nor the right to picket are recognized or guaranteed in law anywhere in Canada." * * *
CIVIL RIGHTS
Apart from autlawing what we consider the legal function of trade unions, the new amendments just about annihilate our rights as Canadian citizens. For instance, the definition of treason has undergone sweeping revision so that anyone could be convited even for a mild criticism of the government, for calling for world peace, or for calling for the outlawing of gas or germ warfare, and could be sentenced, even in peace time, to the death penalty. This may sound fantastic, but it is_exactly what the Bill em-
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powers the courts to do should they consider, that one's action, or spoken or written word, is likely to aid an enemy against whom Canadian troops are engaged—even without a declaration of war. Signing a petition to the government, for example, a right supposedly guaranteed by British law, might be tantamount to signing your own death warrant.
Here are a few opinion:
". . . final action on this measure should be postponed until the next session of parliament.
As submitted to parliament, the new Code appears to be full of errors, ambiguous wording and doubtful law . . ."
(Toronto Globe and Mail, editorial, June 23, 1952.)
And from SATURDAY NIGHT,
Canadian illustrated weekly, May 3. 1952: SATURDAY NIGHT had no enthusiasm for those amendments at the time when they were quietly wangled into the Code with the least possible advance notice, and we have no more enthusiasm for them now, being convinced that they are potentiously dangerous to the the freedom of the citizen . . ."
"These amendments were drafted very hastily, and upon the urgent instigation of the United States. They have been sharply criticized by many of the best liberal-minded lawyers in the country. They should be very carefully overhauled at the present session."
* * *
J. G. DIEFENBAKER, M.P.: "I
know 'of no case in four or fiye hundred years' interpretation of the law of treason that goes as far as this amendment." (House of Commons debates, June, 1951, p. 4632).
The National Council for Civil Liberties, London, England: "We have examined Clauses 46 and 47—dealing with the crime of treason—of the Bill H-8 now before the parliament of Canada.
"We are deeply shocked by this illiberal attempt to extend the definition of a capital offence far beyond what has hitherto been universally accepted in all countries deriving their jurisprudence from England.
". . . one begins to realize how far Canada is being pushed along the road to authoritarianism.
". . . there are obvious dangers in the interpretation by a reactionary government desirous of suppressing criticism itself."
* * *
STANLEY KNOWLES, M.P.:
"Along with our responsibilty to
devise laws that protect the security of the state we also have the responsibility to see to it that we do not completely whittle away our civil liberties. It seems to me one of the civil liberties we must protect is the right to discuss the policies of this nation even in relation to any war in which we might be engaged."
(House of Commons debates, June, 1951, p. 4642.)
* * *
ANGUS MaclNNIS, M.P.: "If
we have to adopt the suppressive laws of dictatorship to preserve democracy, then we have lost democracy. We should always bear in mind that convictions or actions under these sections are liable to be undertaken at a time when the minds of people are disturbed, when we are living on the verge of hysteria."
(House of Commons debates, June, 1951, p. 4660.)
We have reviewed here only the main points of Bill H-8. There are many other clauses which abolish or restrict rights presently enjoyed by Canadians. For instance, a man's home can be raided and searched without a warrant, the right of Habeas Corpus is restricted, the right to trial by jury is not clearly defined, etc.
We feel that what is needed in this country is an extension of Democracy and not added restrictions on it. Labor would be ill advised indeed to sacrifice rights won only after generations of steady and often bitter struggle and sacrifice. Our answer to Bill H-8 should be an intensification of organized labor's demand for a Bill of Rights, voiced for many years, patterned on the Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations. Surely that is not too much to ask of a country claiming to champion freedom and democracy!
At the very least, as an immediate measure, there must be a strong demand from all Canadians, and from union workers especially, for a hoist for this proposed Bill so that it can be studied and suggestions made for its improvement and the elimination of its undesirable features.
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