Canadian's ancient rights: gun ownership and a vote on taxes
April 30, 12:48 AMCanada Politics ExaminerBrian Lilley
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There was plenty of chatter about the ancient rights of Parliament this week as Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ruled that MPs had the ability to demand the Afghan detainee documents and that the government was obliged to supply them. It was, said one colleague, like the Roundheads of old England, another compared it to the Glorious Revolution which gave way to the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
That dusty old document, which I have never heard referenced before in these hallowed halls of Parliament is actually a cornerstone of our system of government, its passage marked the beginning of what we now view as the British form of constitutional monarchy. The bill sets limits on what the monarch, or in the Canadian context the prime minister and his cabinet, can do. Yet it also sets out rights for the people, including our ancient right to bear arms.
Canadians like to think that owning guns is a purely American thing, that it has never really been the Canadian way, not so. Beyond the fact that Canada was once a vast frontier land where people were regularly armed, one of our constitutional documents, which is how courts view the English Bill of Rights, clearly says the people, or at least certain people, may arm themselves for self-defence.
"That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law."
Now in true British fashion it does have the caveat not found in the later American Bill of Rights. Clearly no one will overturn the gun registry or restrictions on certain weapons with an appeal to the old bill, but it is a an interesting historical reference.
Another section of the English Bill of Rights that we sadly need reminding of in this day in age is the ancient idea of no taxation without representation.
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April 30, 12:48 AMCanada Politics ExaminerBrian Lilley
Article Link
There was plenty of chatter about the ancient rights of Parliament this week as Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ruled that MPs had the ability to demand the Afghan detainee documents and that the government was obliged to supply them. It was, said one colleague, like the Roundheads of old England, another compared it to the Glorious Revolution which gave way to the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
That dusty old document, which I have never heard referenced before in these hallowed halls of Parliament is actually a cornerstone of our system of government, its passage marked the beginning of what we now view as the British form of constitutional monarchy. The bill sets limits on what the monarch, or in the Canadian context the prime minister and his cabinet, can do. Yet it also sets out rights for the people, including our ancient right to bear arms.
Canadians like to think that owning guns is a purely American thing, that it has never really been the Canadian way, not so. Beyond the fact that Canada was once a vast frontier land where people were regularly armed, one of our constitutional documents, which is how courts view the English Bill of Rights, clearly says the people, or at least certain people, may arm themselves for self-defence.
"That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law."
Now in true British fashion it does have the caveat not found in the later American Bill of Rights. Clearly no one will overturn the gun registry or restrictions on certain weapons with an appeal to the old bill, but it is a an interesting historical reference.
Another section of the English Bill of Rights that we sadly need reminding of in this day in age is the ancient idea of no taxation without representation.
More on link
