The bigger the government gets, the bigger arms it has to hug you!

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So here we go. I was promted to address this following the discovery of this - an op-ed in yesterday's Globe and Mail written by a former staffer to Minister of Public Works Christian Paradis.

Before we get into it, I want to draw attention to this comment;

"A principal goal of government – particularly a conservative one – should be to further the freedoms and liberties of its people without the paternalistic pretenses of the state prescribing their actions. By engendering government control and restriction of human behaviour, Mr. Harper’s Tories are straying farther from championing the individual freedoms that are vital to the progress of society."

Under the Harper Government (I've received a memo telling me that's what its called) Canadians have seen the greatest expansion of the state in Canadian history - both in size and in reach. Central to this is the government's omnibus crime bill. We can talk about the lack of logic of strengthening crime legislation at a time when crime is falling - at least *reported* crime. We can talk about the fact that in what should be a period of austerity the government is dictating expensive policy to the provinces, regardless of comments made by Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty that provinces watch their spending. But I want to talk about liberty. I want to talk about how this government continues to, day in, day out, erode the personal liberties of this country -- all in the name of protecting us. You hear that, my friends? The government knows whats best for you. So just sit back and take your medicine. No thanks.

Primary to the bill is a section on drug usage. Personally, I believe it is time to legalize all drug use. (Sorry for taking the Ron Paul line on this one.) This is a victimless crime. People choose to do drugs. And government resources can be better allocated than to force our brave men and women in uniform than punish Canadians who simply choose to express their personal liberties. But this bill does not embrace liberty. It punishes it. It makes two 15 year olds sharing marijuana into traffickers. And worse, it delivers possible sentence for "traffickers" longer than that of a convicted pedofile. Is this liberty? Is this what a government that claims to believe in less government intervention should be doing?

All of a sudden "soldiers... on our streets.... with guns...." doesn't seem so far out reach. All of a sudden the spend and spend Conservative government's venture to expand the reach of the ever expanding state is impacting on the day to day life of Canadians. On our liberty.

So I ask you; does the *Harper Government* know what's best for you? Do you trust them to make such decisions for you? Certainly they do.