Operation Vic.Tory / Operation Great White North

Nearly all the information discussed beyond this point can be confirmed by news media, governmental and other sources linked from Wikipedia articles.  We encourage Canadians not to take our word for it, but to confirm these facts for themselves.

Vic Toews held the position of Minister of Justice, which he was appointed to by Stephen Harper, from February 6, 2006 - January 4, 2007.

In November 2006, Toews announced that police representatives would be appointed to the provincial judicial advisory committees that review the qualifications of potential judges. This proposal was widely criticized by the Canadian media and by opposition MPs, some of whom argued that Toews' intent was to stack the courts with right-wing judges.  In an unprecedented move, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and the Canadian Judicial Council issued a statement that Toews's proposal would "compromise the independence of the Advisory Committees", and called for the minister to consult with judicial and legal representatives before making any changes.

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has also criticized Toews's plan, arguing that the government had "politicized" the judicial appointments process.  Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry and Attorney General Michael Bryant added their opposition in early 2007, with Bryant arguing that "the forces of legal populism" were threatening to "tear asunder the basic principle of judicial independence".  Toews' indicated that he would proceed with his changes despite the opposition, though he was removed from the Justice portfolio before the new system could be implemented.  In January 2007, the Conservatives appointed two powerful Ontario police union leaders to an advisory committee.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper shuffled his cabinet on January 4, 2007, and appointed Toews as President of the Treasury Board. Some commentators argued that Toews's hardline approach to law-and-order issues was damaging the Conservative Party's image among centrist voters, and described his replacement Rob Nicholson as presenting a more moderate image.

The Cabinet shuffle confused many at the time, especially because despite removing Toews, the Conservative Party went ahead with his controversial plan to appoint high-ranking police officers to the provincial judicial advisory committee.  If it was truly Mr. Toews' hardline approach that motivated his removal from the position of Justice Minister, why then push ahead with the very policies that alienated so many in the first places?

An article from Xtra.ca, published in August 2008, sheds more light on this confusing series of events and the conclusion people later came to.  The article begins:

About six months before I spotted Toews at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Stephen Harper shuffled him from the high-profile Justice portfolio into the influential but less noticeable job of Treasury Board President.

It was Jan 2007, and the move puzzled cabinet-watchers. It was seen as a demotion, even though Conservatives seemed to like Toews as Justice Minister. Apart from some controversial views, he hadn't done anything scandalous — at least not that most people knew about at the time.  In light of new revelations about his personal life, though, the move is now seen as Harper's attempt to distance himself from Toews.  That's because the Treasury Board President's formerly squeaky-clean image as an upright, Christian family man is now in tatters. His wife of 32 years, and the mother of his adult children has filed for divorce. A few months ago, another woman gave birth to a baby — his.

Many people would say that's nobody's business, except for one thing: the way the Conservatives are allegedly trying to deal with the sticky situation of having an adulterer in their ranks.

End of article for our purposes.

Listen closely, because the following timeline is very important.

November 23, 2006 - Justice Minister Vic Toews appoints Catherine Everett to the Family Division of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba.

January 4, 2007 - Stephen Harper removes Vic Toews as Justice Minister, confusing many.

People will later conclude, based on the birth of Mr. Toews son and his subsequent divorce, that this was the motivation behind his removal, as the Conservatives didn't want Vic Toews' marital scandal hurting the party's political prospects.  However, Vic had not even told his wife he was having an affair yet, and would not do so until January 28, as confirmed in sworn court affidavits.

His son would not be born for another 6 or 7 months.

His first wife would not file for divorce until more than a year later.

These events cannot have been the motivation for Vic Toews' removal from the position of Justice Minister, unless you believe that Mr. Toews told Stephen Harper about his mistress's pregnancy nearly a month before informing his own wife.

The other frequently offered explanation for Vic Toews' removal, that his hardline reputation was alienating voters, seems very dubious as the Conservative Party followed through with the very plans that caused so much controversy and earned Vic Toews that reputation in the first place.

January 28th, 2007 - Court affidavits from Toews' first wife state, quote, "On January 28th, 2007 Vic informed me that he had been having an affair for the past 3 years and that the woman was pregnant."

July, 2007 - Vic Toews' and Stacey Meek's son is born.

March 31, 2008 - Vic Toews' first wife files for divorce.

So, what then was Stephen Harper's motivation for removing Vic Toews from the position of Justice Minister, a position in which he was generally well-liked by Conservatives?

Anonymous has been informed that not only did Vic Toews appoint Catherine Everett to the Court of Queen's Bench while sleeping with her, but that Stephen Harper was discovered this at some point in time during the month or so between Nov. 26, 2006 and January 4, 2007, and quietly removed Vic Toews from the position of Justice Minister in a careful orchestrated balancing act between protecting himself and the party by not having his sitting Justice Minister embroiled in a political and legal scandal were this information to be made public, and continuing to conceal this information in order to protect the Conservative Party's political prospects.

If there was any justice in this country, an investigation would be launched into these allegations.  However, as our government seems hell-bent on calling those who engage in legal protests using social media before ethics committees and holding Anonymous in contempt of Parliament instead,  this seems unlikely.  We will not be holding our breath.

Vic Taves has said in regard to Bill C-30, "I will continue to do my duty and carry out my responsibilities in respect of this piece of legislation."  Mr. Toews, it is not your duty to pass Bill C-30.  Bill C-30 represents the antithesis of your duty, and everything this country stands for.  Your duty is to serve the people of Canada, not invade their privacy, violate their civil rights, or treat them like criminals by presuming them guilty before they are proven innocent.

Having released this information, Anonymous must now take additional measure to ensure both our anonymity and our security.  This means there will likely be no new videos released for a week or more.  Some will say that we have fled, or that we've given up the fight.  They will be wrong.  If it were possible to frighten Anonymous into silence, we would have deleted this account the day it was demanded we be held in contempt of Parliament, and we would never have released this information.  They said our first video was rhetoric and nothing more.  They said we had nothing to tell before we revealed the identity of Mr. Toews' mistress.  Anonymous has kept all it's promises to the Canadian public thus far.  Have faith in us.

Should we receive more information we feel the Canadian public must be made aware of, or should the Canadian government once again attempt to undermine the civil rights of Canadian citizens, we will re-emerge to meet these challenges to our collective liberty head on.  Our allegiance does not, and will never, lie with the government of this country... our allegiance lies with the Canadian people.

 We are Anonymous.

 We are Legion.

 We do not forgive.

 We do not forget.

 Expect us, for O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.