Another viewpoint.

In the northern hemisphere, we have come to the time of darkness and the season for festivals of light, that time when the sun is farthest away, the daylight hours are short, and the cold creeps into our bones. In response, we humans light candles and bonfires, decorate trees with coloured lights, hold great feasts, give our loved ones gifts, and celebrate those--whether divine or human--who we believe will bring light.

For this edition of Another Viewpoint, I thought I would make some suggestions from a justice viewpoint for bringing light to our world. Since this issue of LawNow begins with a Feature section on contracts, my first suggestion is that all those who make contracts, do so carefully, and then, keep their contracts. In particular, I suggest that newly elected governments make a point of keeping the contracts entered into by their predecessors. We see all too often that the stability and predictability--which contracts are supposed to bring to matters of marketplace, employment, and so on--are destroyed by governments bent on repudiating everything their predecessors stood for. And so we have the armed forces with helicopters that fall from the sky too often, and we have public service workers (including teachers and health care workers) in several jurisdictions seeing their pay and job security rolled back by legislation when they believed they had certainty based on negotiated contracts. In an effort to bring more light and justice to public service, I propose we stop the mean-mindedness that breaks contracts that deal with the public good.

In the Special Report section of this issue, we are taking another look at the differences in law between the USA and Canada. The last few years of Canada--USA relations have been somewhat rocky. So, in the spirit of bringing light to the world, I suggest that we Canadians contain our sense of moral superiority a little better and try to keep any insults of American leaders in the privacy of our homes and out of the mass media. In the spirit of Thumper and Bambi, if we can't say anything nice about the American leadership, let's say nothing at all to the media. At the same time, and again in the spirit of bringing light to the darkest regions of the world, let our Canadian leaders state loudly and forcefully that ends tend to be determined by the means used to achieve them; thus, violence tends to breed more and greater violence and peaceful, just approaches to problems tend to breed more peace and justice. So let all Canadians from our Prime Minister on down suggest as strongly as we can to our southern neighbours that cadres of trained peace-makers, democracy-builders, teachers, and skilled public service workers will have more success in spreading democracy and peace around the world than all the soldiers and smart bombs can possibly achieve.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, recently raised the alarm that international law is being flouted, and the possibility of modest international safety--never mind peace--is at risk of falling before the forces of darkness and chaos. So in the interests of bringing back the sparks of light we had begun to see in the areas of international law and justice, I send a plea to all nations to abide by the international agreements (contracts one might say) that they have signed and to sign those that still await their signatures. Let us all keep striving toward the goals of the Kyoto Accord, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and all those other noble treaties, the conventions, and accords that we have written in the past 100 years.

Finally, in my short list of wishes for bringing back the light at this season of darkness, I come back to myself and all the other individual residents of planet earth. I have been reminded often lately of Buffy Sainte-Marie's song, "The Universal Soldier", and especially the last verse:

   "He's the universal soldier,
   And he really is to blame,
   His orders came from far away, no more,
   They came from here and there,
   And you and me,
   And [people], can't you see,
   This is not the way to put an end to war ..."

For my last wish to bring more light and justice into the world, I wish that everyone in the world moves from the Universal Soldier, war, blame, and orders, to a worldwide acting on the carol by Sy Miller and Bill Jackson:

   "Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
   With ev'ry breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
   To take each moment and live each moment in
      peace eternally!
   Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!