Rights commissions biggest clowns in anti-free-speech circus

Rob Breakenridge, For The Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, February 28, 2008
The continuing debate over free speech and human rights commissions has illustrated for us a trifecta of absurdity fighting to uphold the status quo. We are witnessing the convergence of farcical politicians, farcical complainants and, yes, farcical commissions -- all unwittingly helping the cause of free speech. For that which is to be mocked is that which is found to be sapped of all political credibility.

It is most unfortunate to find Alberta's premier with a starring role in this sad affair. Whereas Ed Stelmach often has a folksy platitude to offer, a straightforward question on this issue produced a statement so utterly devoid of reason and coherence that I think the premier was more confused after uttering it than he was before it came spilling out of his mouth.

Stelmach managed a vague reference to the Charter, a flowery nod to Alberta's "mosaic" and, of all things, a reference to recently announced funding for the arts. All that was missing, sadly, was anything resembling an answer. To describe such a vacuous statement as one to be mocked would be a gross understatement.


While Stelmach exposed his ignorance on the subject in that case (though he has since told the Herald's editorial board that he will look at possibly modifying Alberta's human rights act to better protect free speech), few other politicians seem willing to fight for free speech. Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft told the Herald's editorial board yesterday that he, too, would review the act should he become premier. Faint praise to them both.

Federally, Liberal MP Keith Martin's private members motion calls for subsection 13 (1) to be deleted from the Canadian Human Rights Act, thereby removing matters of speech from the Commissions' domain. His own party seems lukewarm, and the federal Conservatives are steering clear, too. The one notable exception being Calgary MP Jason Kenney, who spoke out against the case launched by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine.

And in that we find our farcical complainants. We've seen local imam Syed Soharwardy's case crumble after he suddenly talked of withdrawing his complaint against the Western Standard magazine (it's not yet been withdrawn) offering a wide array of reasons for his decision. The absurdity was compounded when, in these very pages, Soharwardy's past words were detailed.

We find the same bitter irony with the Canadian Islamic Congress, a rather unlikely poster child for the quest to vanquish offensive speech.

While the Canadian Islamic Congress frets about a leading Canadian news magazine, they're free-speech absolutists when it comes to al-Jazeera. Despite the radical views often expounded on al-Jazeera, the CIC is a strong supporter of allowing al-Jazeera's unfettered signal into Canada.

And speaking of radical views, lest we forget CIC president Mohammed Elmasry's now-infamous television appearance in which he defended terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, following in the rhetorical footsteps of radical cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, whose work is approvingly cited on the CIC's website. This is the same Sheik Qaradawi who has talked of the need to "punish" homosexuals, not a far cry from Elmasry's own belief that "homosexuality is forbidden and . . . (homosexuals) will be held accountable in the end."

Which makes you wonder why some anti-gay rhetoric gets a pass, while human rights commissions have pursued and punished anti-gay rhetoric in other cases, like Rev. Stephen Boissoin here in Alberta, and Bill Whatcott in Saskatchewan.

Here we begin to see where the commissions themselves are becoming a farce, if for no other reason that the cases against the Western Standard and Maclean's went ahead in the first place. But maybe it's as much about what they're not doing as what they are.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission says its "too busy" to look into claims of abuse in provincial nursing homes, and yet has the resources available to help a Sikh man fight a traffic ticket on the grounds that mandatory motorcycle helmets violate his religious freedom. Not too busy to hold a hearing against a plastic surgeon who refused genital enhancement surgery on two transsexuals because he had never performed such procedures on transsexuals. Same for the case against a restaurant owner who refused to allow medicinal marijuana to be smoked outside his entrance.



These are the forces of ludicrousness aligning against our most basic rights of freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. The good news is that their mere existence is working against them.

Rob Breakenridge hosts The World Tonight, weeknights from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on AM770