Solicitor General Rich Coleman may be the best organizing tool the NDP ever discovered. His hard right approach to civil rights is antagonizing federal Liberals who may see the Campbell coalition for what it is, a provincial equivalent of the reactionary Alliance. Witness the Liberal Premier-elect in Ontario who is condemning tax cuts as right wing nonsense!

Coleman's latest foray into civil liberties involves a bold assertion that he will bring in legislation to overcome any constitutional challenges to the practice of the Vancouver Police Department to strip search all who are put in their jails. Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward has filed a class action against the City of Vancouver and the provincial government on behalf of two students who were arrested in April following a demonstration. The students were forced to disrobe when they were taken to the Vancouver Jail.

According to Ward strip searches contravene a Supreme Court of Canada ruling-Regina vs. Golden and they "are inherently humiliating and degrading for detainees... and for this reason, they cannot be carried out simply as a matter of routine policy."

It will be interesting to follow Ward's case through the courts, but it will be fascinating to watch Coleman in his efforts to protect the Campbell government and the City of Vancouver against Ward's legal action. Short of invoking the "not withstanding clause" to ignore the Charter of Rights, Coleman may not be able to allow strip searches, regardless of circumstance. Could Gordon Campbell be so foolish as to permit Coleman to use the not withstanding clause so that police can indiscriminately conduct strip searches?

There is an enormous difference between a few well intentioned protesters who may be apprehended because they might be overly exuberant in their civil disobedience vs. crack dealers who are pushing drugs to kids.

Coleman, a former cop, is giving a bad name to the police. If Campbell backs Coleman's recklessness, he deserves to suffer the political consequences. No one wants to give the police the power to act as judge, jury, and executioner as they use strip searches to harass political protestors.