Ottawa’s Back Door Man
As a teen in the 1960s, I liked the music of Jim Morrison and the DOORS. One song in particular seemed to offend the sensibilities of many people. It was Back Door Man. It has new meaning today.
Back Door Man in 1967.
In the “summer of love” in Los Angeles, California. the Doors released a song called Back Door Man. Jim Morrison, the lead singer, was the heart throb of many teenage girls who liked his “bad boy, Greek Adonis” image. The lyrics, sung by such a young man, portrayed him as a bold sexual predator:
Hey, all you people that tryin' to sleep
Fast forward to 2020 - 2022
During the pandemic, Canadians experienced another type of ‘back door’ predator: a constitutional one.
No one can describe, in less than 5 minutes, the back door approach that was used by our federal and provincial governments to override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms better than Bruce Pardy. Watch it hear.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is dead and buried.
One of the most common questions that arose since early 2020 was if the Charter would protect us from “tyranny by government fiat”. People like Brian Peckford, a co-signatory of the Charter in 1982 when be was a provincial Premier, rallied Canadians to demand that their constitutional rights be defended against public policies that were clearly unconstitutional.
There were two problems with this. The political and administrative authorities had:
Already found and entered the Charter’s back door to deflate its power.
Control of the entire “enforcement” apparatus from the police to the courts to the media to public health establishments, and more. The rights of the public were none of their concern or priority.
The war is over, and we lost!
Another DOORS song from the 1960s was The Unknown Soldier. Check out the lyrics. They were relevant to the Viet Nam war that cost Americans too many lives and hundreds of $billions in taxation.
In 2023, I hereby dedicate this song to demise of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our “unknown soldier, which lies in an unmarked grave and has yet to have any citizen mourn its loss or seek retribution from those responsible. The constitutionally savvy assassins, who worked behind closed doors, may be hard to identify, but you can bet that Canada’s Commander-in-Chief, Justin Trudeau, played a part in delivering the fatal blows.
