Regarding Bill-C 11 and the Siracusa Principles (revised edition)

By Nicole Lebrasseur

OPEN LETTER REQUEST

Ohsweken, April 05, 2023

TO: SENATORS and PARLIAMENTARIANS BY REGISTERED LETTER, EMAIL or FAX

Senate and Parliament of Canada Ottawa, Ontario Canada, K1A 0A4

Dear Senators and Parliamentarians,

We, the Canadian Peoples’ Union NFP (C.P.U.) – represent Canadian citizens and Indigenous Peoples throughout Canada. We are requesting your help to ensure that our civil and political rights above our government, as well as yours, are properly respected. With the imminent approval of Bill C-11, the Notwithstanding Clause (article 33) as well as Province of Ontario Bill-3, these rights can, once more, go unaddressed by our governments.

With your dutiful collaboration as our representatives, we are asking you to declare Bill C-11 unconstitutional in its entirety. The government cannot deny us any of our rights as specified in the Siracusa Principles, which include non-derogation of “freedom of expression” as stated by the United Nations subcommittee of which the Canadian government and the Quebec Government are very aware of. The subcommittee further commented on the Notwithstanding Clause (article 33):

Fact: Québec Premier Bourassa passed Bill 178, which included the notwithstanding clause to restrict the use of commercial signs in languages other than French. After the new law was criticized by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the Premier had the National Assembly rewrite the law so that it conforms to the Charter. The notwithstanding clause was removed.

See CCPR/C/47 /D/359/1989 and 385/1989/Rev. 1 – 5 May 1993 http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/undocs/html/v359385.htm

To continue to ignore these facts and the RULE OF LAW indicates that those who write our laws, including those who approve them without the knowledge of the Siracusa Principles, or instill them even though they are aware of them, create an injustice to all Canadians and Indigenous Peoples of Canada, especially to those worldwide who fought for these rights during and after WWII.

These are the very principles our laws and human, civil and political rights were created for. They also complete the foundation of the Rule of Law. Anything else is a rule by law, which is contradictory to the very cornerstone of this country.

The responsibility to respect International Laws and universal rights, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 which Canada and the U.K. have signed in 1976, falls upon both the U.K. and the Canadian Parliaments. In addition, the Courts must uphold both the Constitution and the International Laws under the Rule of Law Principles (principles that protect the people from governments that create seemingly arbitrary laws that are neither based on the Rule of Law, nor on protecting the people). Instead, by not honoring the citizens’ collective rights, Canada has been ruling BY law since 1982.

A request for an official constitutional correction placing the collective people in our rightful place was addressed to the United Kingdom by the C.P.U. in March 2022; unfortunately, we received no response. On July 30, 2022, in Ottawa, the C.P.U. and its supporters stood up and activated our collective civil and political rights, which was another step in initiating a dialogue with the U.K. and the Canadian governments. Prior to 2022, the C.P.U. had also written to Minister of Justice David Lametti and various other officials hoping to shed light on the neglected state of democracy in Canada, including the disregarded non-derogation of the rights of our peoples during the pandemic; no response was received.

The deliberate malfeasant advice given by Minister of Justice Mr. Lametti, and the legal stance of the Canadian government reflects a gross injustice perpetually committed against Canadian citizens and Indigenous Peoples, and to yourselves “our Senators and Parliamentarians”.

It does not matter which province you are from or represent; all Canadians are equal across the provinces and territories. No provincial or municipal government has the right to have different rules under these legislatures ignoring equality rights of all its peoples. The last 3 years could have been very different if our rights had not been omitted; the World Health Organization cannot override these rights any more than the Canadian Governance. These are serious breaches of international treaties and a complete disrespect of the peoples of our country.

It is crucial that these issues be addressed by all Parliamentarians, all Canadians, and all Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Furthermore, utilising “controlled” surveys or inviting favoured people to speak at inquiries without getting input from all sides of the situation does not and cannot show that Canadians want what the governing bodies do. More needs to be done before making such claims or applying unconstitutional laws.

You will find attached in PDF or paper format the Siracusa Principles which has been successfully used in courts of law and in Canada by our Justices when in conflict with the Canadian Government. These key principles are not included as part of the curriculum in law education in Canada. All lawyers and Canadians need to know about these principles as court challenge outcomes could have been different than what we have witnessed in the last 3 years and before; this includes the prevention of the use of the Emergency Measures by the Canadian Government, as they did, thus making the inquiry null and void.

The irony in all of this, is that Canada claims to be excellent in protecting the rights of Canadians, and our human rights agencies are there to make sure that Canada implements its obligations. From our research their statements are hypocritical.

Please refer to sections 30, 31 and 32 of the Siracusa Principles below:

30. National security cannot be invoked as a reason for imposing limitations to prevent merely local or relatively isolated threats to law and order.

31. National security cannot be used as a pretext for imposing vague or arbitrary limitations and may only be invoked when there exists adequate safeguards and effective remedies against abuse.

32. The systematic violation of human rights undermines true national security and may jeopardize international peace and security. A state responsible for such violation shall not invoke national security as a justification for measures aimed at suppressing opposition to such violation or at perpetrating repressive practices against its population.

States parties should not derogate from Covenant rights or rely on a derogation made when they are able to attain their public health or other public policy objectives by invoking the possibility to restrict certain rights, such as article 12 (freedom of movement), article 19 (freedom of expression) or article 21 (right to peaceful assembly), in conformity with the provisions for such restrictions set out in the Covenant, or by invoking the possibility of introducing reasonable limitations on certain rights, such as article 9 (right to personal liberty) and article 17 (right to privacy), in accordance with their provisions;

(d) States parties may not resort to emergency powers or implement derogating measures in a manner that is discriminatory, or that violates other obligations that they have undertaken under international law, including under other international human rights treaties from which no derogation is allowed. Nor can States parties deviate from the non-derogable provisions of the Covenant – article 6 (right to life), article 7 (prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or of medical or scientific experimentation without consent), article 8, paragraphs 1 and 2 (prohibition of slavery, the slave trade and servitude), article 11 (prohibition of imprisonment because of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation), article 15 (principle of legality in the field of criminal law), article 16 (recognition of everyone as a person before the law) and article 18 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) – or from other rights that are essential for upholding the non derogable rights found in the aforementioned provisions and for ensuring respect for the rule of law and the principle of legality even in times of public emergency, including the right of access to court, due process guarantees and the right of victims to obtain an effective remedy; see the attached pdf below Read more here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/03/covid-19-states-should-not-abuse-emergency-measures-suppress-human-rights-un?LangID=E&NewsID=25722

Furthermore, as stated by the Human Rights Committee, our rights are also protected online. No government can use laws to regulate our online access under freedom of expression. Nothing in law states that the government has the right to rule over the people. The government does not have this right, even if it thinks it does through the election process.

The Canadian Governments and Parliamentarians need their votes to reflect the conscience of the people when laws being passed affect them directly. This is why parliamentarians should not be allowed to vote as partisans on statutes and Acts but rather should vote their conscience in consideration of their fiduciary obligations to the people. It is obvious that during parliamentary votes, parliamentarians do not reflect taking into consideration the right of conscience of all Canadians since they must act according to their party’s orders on how to vote. Bill C-11 and other bills like it, should not get drafted in the first place.

Our livelihood is in peril due to our governing bodies’ decisions. Where is the justice in all of this? If we can’t depend on our Senators and Parliamentarians to provide a “Sobering Second Thought” with the ability to veto what is unconstitutional, who can we depend on when so many breaches are being orchestrated?

Looking at the big picture of what Canada has become since 1982 given the RULE OF LAW and the concealment of the Siracusa Principles from lawyers and observing the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal along with the provincial agencies fraught with abuse and negligence of all of our rights; it is never too late to take positive action. You can all help make a huge difference by eliminating Bill C-11 and to further assist us in disallowing unconstitutional laws that derogate from our rights, and yours.

Appended is an excerpt of the forgotten Universal Declaration of Human Rights which are automatically embedded in our constitution under international Instruments that Pierre Elliot Trudeau and all Prime Ministers and Premiers since, have hidden from public knowledge. As well, the Siracusa Principles are attached for your perusal so that the Canadian Government, Parliament, Provincial and Municipal legislatures can no longer ignore it.

We would be honored if you would schedule a meeting with us at your convenience. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact us as time is of the essence before Canada is irreparably ruptured by those who want to destroy our country and its peoples. Without Prejudice,

Respectfully and warmest regards,

Nicole Lebrasseur

The Canadian Peoples’ Union NFP
Activating our Collective Civil and Political rights

nicole@canadianpeoplesunion.com

Tel: (226) 777-5580

thepowershift.ca