The Toronto Star reports today on the McGuinty government's secret move to curtail civil liberties through the end of the G8/G20 this weekend. Together with Stephen Harper, McGuinty has helped to create a Fortress Toronto that has some comparing the suspension of democratic rights to the War Measures Act imposed by Trudeau's Liberal government in October 1970.

When a CBC reporter asked Trudeau at the time how far he would go in suspending civil liberties to "maintain order," the Prime Minister responded, "Well, just watch me."

A Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision on Friday reinforced the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms just as Stephen Harper is doing his best to erase the whole notion from the political map. His recent assault on the Canadian Human Rights Commission is a case in point. Harper summarily closed CHRC offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax. The three offices accounted for 70 per cent of all federal human rights complaints to the CHRC in 2008.

All of a sudden there's a lot of smoke billowing in the media about the possibility of a merger of the federal Liberals and New Democrats.

This raises the inevitable question: whatever can it mean?

One thing this story surely does not mean is that anyone in either party is seriously suggesting there should be a merger. Indeed, it's possible that a clear majority of Canadian New Democrats would vote for any party other than the Liberals, especially the Liberals under an unreconstituted right-winger like Michael Ignatieff.