Rather than grant a blanket exemption to persons who hold licenses under the federal Radio Communication Act as other provinces have done, our Ontario Government chose to arrogantly play “we know best” and “cherry pick” exemptions to this new law.

And, sadly, the ONLY way this nonsense is going to be overturned for we hams is by a legal test case that results in a court ruling throwing the whole Transportation Ministry’s myopic “three year exemption” nonsense in the trash as horribly inconsistent and therefore, blatantly unconstitutional.

That is, it’s the Transportation Ministry’s attempt to cherry pick exemptions for SOME federally licensed radio users (but not others) that has make both the law (and the regulation implementing it) systemically discriminatory on its face. And I believe it’s that arrogant “we now best” regulatory approach that WILL eventually lead to a successful court challenge and a blanket exemption for ANYONE who holds a federally issued radio license.

But, unfortunately, someone with deep enough pockets is going to have to first mount an (expensive) legal challenge to do it.

I find it absolutely fascinating that our gormless “we know best” Ontario Government minions have now seen fit to grant a blanket exemption from the new HST for anyone who wants to sip a Tim Horton’s coffee from a paper cup while driving down the highway. Yet, WE must all be “hands free” by 2012! What a joke!

The bottom line here is that the regulated application of Bill 118 was (and is) blatantly inconsistent on its face. And trying to get MPPs to repeal the law (or change the regulations) based on any other grounds is nothing but an exercise in futility. Obviously, most of these clowns don’t have the slightest clue as to what amateur radio is about… and could absolutely care less. They have “done something” about those horrible cell phones and that’s all that matters.

Besides the fact that there is a glaring federal/provincial disconnect in the law itself over who has the authority to regulate access to the public airwaves, the blatant inconsistency in the way the Minister of Transportation has now arrogantly chosen to grant exemptions to a horrifically flawed law to anything other than unlicensed cell phones WILL eventually be struck down by a court order.

Indeed, this nonsense would all be comic if it wasn’t so systemically discriminatory. And the need for someone to legally challenge such blatant regulatory overreach to change it speaks volumes about where our province… and our country… is now headed.

http://www.wheels.ca/article/786120

Joe, VE3LNU