Group rights and individual rights are very important political issues. The fact of the matter is, each one can greatly influence government legislation. When a government (like the Harper government) bases its legislation around individual concerns, the legislation can be very threatening to the group. An example being the proposed changes to the National Anthem by the Harper government, because a woman didn’t like that our anthem went “all our sons command”. In this case, an individual concern almost mutated our national anthem but because of the group and the rights of this group we stopped this as we felt it was inappropriate legislation. Certainly, when I found out that my anthem might be changed, I was unhappy to say the least.
On the other hand, the Ontario government is one that bases a majority of its legislation around group rights and not so much on individual rights. As seen with the bringing in of the Harmonized Sales Tax. This tax will benefit a group of people (ie. Ontario Businesses) but this tax will cause prices of goods to rise for a short time period which is an individual concern as we the people will be paying more.
Another example, which is a local issue in my home town of Oakville is the installation of a new power plant. The Ontario government and myself, know this is a necessary decision for the group (Homeowners in the GTA) as there is a demand for more power. However, my individual concern is that “I don't want a power plant in my back yard!”
One can see how by simply having a different perspective of individual rights/concerns and group rights/concerns, the impact on government legislation can be astounding.
On the other hand, the Ontario government is one that bases a majority of its legislation around group rights and not so much on individual rights. As seen with the bringing in of the Harmonized Sales Tax. This tax will benefit a group of people (ie. Ontario Businesses) but this tax will cause prices of goods to rise for a short time period which is an individual concern as we the people will be paying more.
Another example, which is a local issue in my home town of Oakville is the installation of a new power plant. The Ontario government and myself, know this is a necessary decision for the group (Homeowners in the GTA) as there is a demand for more power. However, my individual concern is that “I don't want a power plant in my back yard!”
One can see how by simply having a different perspective of individual rights/concerns and group rights/concerns, the impact on government legislation can be astounding.
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