Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (pronounced Teivz) the self-described “minister of family values” from Steinbach, Manitoba with his pugnatious sponsorship of Bill C-30 bearing the equally misleading moniker of "Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act," which proposes that the RCMP, CSIS and others appointed by the Minister be given the power to engage in the warrantless online surveillance of Canadians, has surely learned a very important lesson in his twilight years. Don't lead with your chin!
What was the man thinking with his statement in the House of Commons equating non-supporters of this intrusive and unnecessary bill with supporters of child pornographers? If one wanted to isolate oneself and so polarize an issue as to invite personal attacks it's hard to think of a more effective way of accomplishing that and poisoning ones own reputation at the same time. Because as we all now know "minister of family values" Victor Toews is not.
This has been in the news for some days now so outside of opinion don't expect anything new here, but to recap:
- Vic Toews very publicly denigrates a majority of law abiding Canadian citizens, for fun apparently.
- In response @VikiLeaks30 starts tweeting unflattering facts about Mr. Toews' personal & parliamentary life.
- #TellVicEverything hashtag invites Canadians to do just that, pandemonium ensues.
- #DontToewsMeBro joins the fray, the possibilities are legion, the inter-tubes are abuzz.
- Tories claim @VikiLeaks30 uses a HoC IP address and tries to attribute it to the NDP.
- A smarmy Vic Toews denies he said what he said, tries to claim victim status. The internet laughs.
- @VikiLeaks30 acct. closed but is replaced with @VikiLeaksMirror, to keep the fun going.
Another point is the concept of public domain. Vic Toews divorce filings and the information contained therein is public domain. So when @VikiLeaks30 tweets that "the minister of family values" fathered a child on his family babysitter, carried on an affair for seven (7) years with her, divorced his wife of thirty (30) years and cut off child support to his now ex-wife in 2010, this is perfectly within the bounds of public discourse. Supporters of Mr. Toews using a variety of mental gymnastic tricks have tried to portray this reporting as morally or professionally wrong. It is not. It is simply a statement of facts.
The irony here, which is lost on no one, is how Vic Toews in a stunning display of hubris, a) brought about his own personal travails and b) further complicated this secretive and opaque government in it's continuing attempts to curtail the rights of all Canadians across the land. This blogger can assign a feeling of schadenfreude to a) while thankful describes my response to b). Why thankful? Because I cannot possibly think of a more effective way to galvanize the public to the threats to our liberty posed by this Tory government of Steven Harper and his evangelical gang of reform party bigots.
You don't have to marvel at the antics of Newt Gingrich and that crowd of hypocritical neocon Republican thugs south of the border folks. All you need to do is pay attention to what goes on on a daily basis in our own House of Commons. And don't expect our media to lay it out for you. It takes someone from outside the system who doesn't need to bow and scrape to the powers for access. Thank you VikiLeaks! Whoever you are.
PS: My elderly parents knew nothing about Victor Toews before this. Now they know enough to be disgusted by both him and the government of the day which he represents. Good work Vic! You're a peach.
PS: My elderly parents knew nothing about Victor Toews before this. Now they know enough to be disgusted by both him and the government of the day which he represents. Good work Vic! You're a peach.
