Let's make it clear up front: I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV.
That said, it seems to me to be a waste of the court's time for government to go seek an injuction to order people to stop breaching the Criminal Code of Canada, when by definition, they are not supposed to be breaking the criminal law in the first place.
After a day in which a mob closed government buildings, forcibly entered one of them and then proceeded to occupy the offices and trash files, former premier and current public works minister Tom Rideout held a news conference to announce that the provincial government is seeking a court order to stop people from behaving badly.
Actually, it isn't just bad behaviour. It is criminal behaviour.
In the past four weeks, the mob, organized by the Fish, Food and Allied Works have:
1. Caused repeated disturbances in a public place. This is most likely a breach of section 175 (1) (a) and (c) of the Criminal Code.
2. Participated in a riot, under sections 64 and 65 and 68 of the Criminal Code, provided that an appropriate authority follows the provisions of section 67. This is the section I would have suggsted using in relations to events at the Petten Building today.
3. That doesn't include breaches of other statues, the sections about forcible entry, trespass, and maybe even conspiracy.
4. That doesn't include the breaches under provisions of the House of Assembly standing orders.
There is simply no circumstance that justifies the commission of criminal acts by the union and/or its supporters.
Period.
Make no mistake, this is not a matter of free speech and human rights. The perpetrators of these acts have deliberately and maliciously set about to undermine democracy. They have rejected legitimate means of being heard in favour of what is nothing short of thuggery.
There is no place in a free society for people who would deny rights and freedoms to further their cause. The union president and his followers have infringed on my rights and those of others for far too long.
It must be stopped immediately either voluntarily by the fish union and its supporters or by government using the legal and appropriate means at its disposal.
Tom Rideout's actions today are as weak and vacillating as those of the inept Speaker of the legislature. Their tepid responses to acts of intimidation have actually emboldened the mob who know that they can do just about anything they wish with impunity.
It is time for law and order to be restored.
