Friday, June 13, 2008
Human Rights Commissions
The rampant abuse of Canadas Human Rights Commissions has finally come to a head. The case against Mark Steyn and Macleans, along with the complaint against Ezra Levant have raised the public profile of this issue. Finally the Commissions are getting the daily grilling that they rightfully deserve.
On the federal level, Richard Warman has single handedly demolished any credibility that section 13 might have once had. Section 13 is the one which makes it illegal to offend another person. Warman makes a handsome living vicariously taking offense for groups who are not offended enough to complain. Warman's the rich middle-aged white guy who's complaining on behalf of every single Canadian Muslim about Mark Steyn's article "The Future Belongs to Islam".
Then there's the case against Ezra Levant, former publisher of the Western Standard. Some radical Muslim from Ontario is filing a grievance against him in Alberta for re-publishing some of the Danish Mohammed cartoons.
This case is a bit of a personal concern because I too posted one of the 'toons on this very website way back in the day. Thankfully none of my 3.4 readers/month found it offensive enough to file a complaint against me, but the precedent is being set in the Ezra case as I write this. If this complaint against Ezra is successful, there is no reason why I too couldn't be found guilty in the future of being a bigot - for something as simple as posting a picture that was very relevant to the news of the day.
I suspect that both Levant and Steyn's motivations behind their publications were very similar to my own: simply to inform a rightfully curious public about a very serious news matter. After reading various news articles about riots around the world, I found myself curious to see what the fuss was all about. I also found it equally odd that so few legitimate news sources would show the source of the outrage, much less link to it. And like Ezra, after some Googling, I found them - and posted one for others to see. Not to spread hate, and not to offend Islam, but to satisfy the curiosity of ones self and others.
Likewise, Steyn's article "The Future Belongs to Islam", which is in fact an excerpt from his book America Alone, was most offensive to Muslims because of the quotes it contained from various Imam's. In the Steyn-Macleans case, the complaint is against speaking truth - not 'cause it's untrue, but because it's unbecoming.
The differences between the two cases are subtle. In the Ezra case, it's a simple case of freedom of speech vs. the illogical individual human desire to be loved by everybody. The Steyn case, on the other hand, is a little more sinister. In his case a radical Islamic anti-semite is very simply trying to stifle a free Canadian press from saying ANYTHING negative about Islam. Mohammed Elmasry and Richard Warman want to Islamify that old Las Vegas adage: What happens in the Mosque, stays in the Mosque.
These assaults on the freedoms of Canadians should not be allowed to continue. The Steyn and Levant cases are media-magnified examples of what has always been a truly bizarre aspect of Canadian "justice". But the the general public is starting to take notice at the HRCs attacks on mainstream journalism. This is in turn shining light on many of their more lazy and unscrupulous tactics (the light shining on the lazy and unscrupulous tactics of the HRC's not - in this case - those of the media).
The Liberal Party of Canada was the first to grab the ball here. MP Keith Martin is seeking a review of Section 13. While his fellow party members have been far from vocal on the issue, it seems that if it became an issue of debate within the Liberal party, the party would land on the side of Mr. Martin.
Meanwhile the governing Conservatives have been worse than silent on the issue. The Justice Department is so far supporting the status quo. Meanwhile, many Conservative MP's have made statements in favor of the Free Speechers, but Stephen Harper will not clearly state his position in this matter.
The Conservative's may be underestimating the extent to which we Canadians value our freedoms. This is not only a concern of the libertarian sect of their party, but of a whole segment of Canada. Canadians of all cultures value our freedoms, be they Muslim, Arab, Christian, Black, White, Gay, Mormon, Alcoholic, Christian, Cyborg, Agnostic, Pot Heads, Igloo-dwellers, Jews, Old Bastards, Young Assholes, Arachnophobics, People With Bushy Eye Brows, Plasma-fans, LCD-fans, Those Weird Freaks That Can't Twist Their Tongue's, General Racists (of all races), People With Piercings, Tattoos, Hookers, Garbage-Men, Strippers, Italian Plumbers, Deaf Folk, Geeks, Freaks, and I'm spent.... we all enjoy the freedoms Canada represents, and we should endevoure to expand those freedoms, not constrict them.
On the federal level, Richard Warman has single handedly demolished any credibility that section 13 might have once had. Section 13 is the one which makes it illegal to offend another person. Warman makes a handsome living vicariously taking offense for groups who are not offended enough to complain. Warman's the rich middle-aged white guy who's complaining on behalf of every single Canadian Muslim about Mark Steyn's article "The Future Belongs to Islam".
Then there's the case against Ezra Levant, former publisher of the Western Standard. Some radical Muslim from Ontario is filing a grievance against him in Alberta for re-publishing some of the Danish Mohammed cartoons.
This case is a bit of a personal concern because I too posted one of the 'toons on this very website way back in the day. Thankfully none of my 3.4 readers/month found it offensive enough to file a complaint against me, but the precedent is being set in the Ezra case as I write this. If this complaint against Ezra is successful, there is no reason why I too couldn't be found guilty in the future of being a bigot - for something as simple as posting a picture that was very relevant to the news of the day.
I suspect that both Levant and Steyn's motivations behind their publications were very similar to my own: simply to inform a rightfully curious public about a very serious news matter. After reading various news articles about riots around the world, I found myself curious to see what the fuss was all about. I also found it equally odd that so few legitimate news sources would show the source of the outrage, much less link to it. And like Ezra, after some Googling, I found them - and posted one for others to see. Not to spread hate, and not to offend Islam, but to satisfy the curiosity of ones self and others.
Likewise, Steyn's article "The Future Belongs to Islam", which is in fact an excerpt from his book America Alone, was most offensive to Muslims because of the quotes it contained from various Imam's. In the Steyn-Macleans case, the complaint is against speaking truth - not 'cause it's untrue, but because it's unbecoming.
The differences between the two cases are subtle. In the Ezra case, it's a simple case of freedom of speech vs. the illogical individual human desire to be loved by everybody. The Steyn case, on the other hand, is a little more sinister. In his case a radical Islamic anti-semite is very simply trying to stifle a free Canadian press from saying ANYTHING negative about Islam. Mohammed Elmasry and Richard Warman want to Islamify that old Las Vegas adage: What happens in the Mosque, stays in the Mosque.
These assaults on the freedoms of Canadians should not be allowed to continue. The Steyn and Levant cases are media-magnified examples of what has always been a truly bizarre aspect of Canadian "justice". But the the general public is starting to take notice at the HRCs attacks on mainstream journalism. This is in turn shining light on many of their more lazy and unscrupulous tactics (the light shining on the lazy and unscrupulous tactics of the HRC's not - in this case - those of the media).
The Liberal Party of Canada was the first to grab the ball here. MP Keith Martin is seeking a review of Section 13. While his fellow party members have been far from vocal on the issue, it seems that if it became an issue of debate within the Liberal party, the party would land on the side of Mr. Martin.
Meanwhile the governing Conservatives have been worse than silent on the issue. The Justice Department is so far supporting the status quo. Meanwhile, many Conservative MP's have made statements in favor of the Free Speechers, but Stephen Harper will not clearly state his position in this matter.
The Conservative's may be underestimating the extent to which we Canadians value our freedoms. This is not only a concern of the libertarian sect of their party, but of a whole segment of Canada. Canadians of all cultures value our freedoms, be they Muslim, Arab, Christian, Black, White, Gay, Mormon, Alcoholic, Christian, Cyborg, Agnostic, Pot Heads, Igloo-dwellers, Jews, Old Bastards, Young Assholes, Arachnophobics, People With Bushy Eye Brows, Plasma-fans, LCD-fans, Those Weird Freaks That Can't Twist Their Tongue's, General Racists (of all races), People With Piercings, Tattoos, Hookers, Garbage-Men, Strippers, Italian Plumbers, Deaf Folk, Geeks, Freaks, and I'm spent.... we all enjoy the freedoms Canada represents, and we should endevoure to expand those freedoms, not constrict them.
Labels: Canadian Justice, Conservative Party, Ezra Levant, Human Rights, Liberal Party, politics
