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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Wrongs from rights tribunal
Good friends of mine--both of whom are otherwise well-informed people--told me last night they had not heard about the looming B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing in Vancouver into the complaint against Mark Steyn and Maclean's.
But, as the June 2 start of the week-long hearing edges closer, I'm hoping that increased publicity will draw people's attention to the important free-speech issues at stake.
Rick Hiebert has blogged on the issue, below. Also today, Coquitlam-area readers will see the published result of my challenge of former chief commissioner Mary Woo Sims to debate the issue with me in our regular column in the Tri-City News.
Further down the road, the Fraser Institute is planning a one-two punch that should open a few eyes, at least in B.C. Steyn himself will speak at one of the Institute's pricey "Illuminismo" events on May 26. The talk is scheduled to be about "the war on terror," but I'm guessing that the audience will also get an earful about the kangaroo court that Steyn will be facing the following week.
Then, on May 27, Western Standard founder Ezra Levant will be speaking at an Institute-sponsored "policy briefing" luncheon about free speech and his troubles with human-rights commissions.
Two people we have yet to hear from, though, are Premier Gordon Campbell and Attorney-General Wally Oppal. They could put an end to this travesty in a minute by amending the Human Rights Act to eliminate the censorious section under which Maclean's has been dragged to the Tribunal. So, what do you say, Messrs. Campbell and Oppal?
Posted by Terry O'Neill on May 18, 2008 in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Comments
Our leaders don't have the guts for anything like that, Terry. They won't do anything about the gangs, the disorder, or the crime on the streets - they won't do anything about the child abusers at Bountiful. Of course they don't have the guts - or the perception - to do anything of the sort.
And, if they did, I'd guess that the odds are pretty good that the Supreme Court would simply read the parts back into the act.
Let's not delude ourselves that we live in a democracy or that we have a representative government. To the degree that we do, we have one that has some jurisdiction over a limited set of areas. The rest has been ceded to private extremists - liberal judges, environmentalists, minority-lobby groups, etc, etc.
The left is in the driver's seat here and will remain there because, of course, they have the politically-correct position and our leaders, even those who know better, are too fearful to challenge them and our people too tired to elect leaders who will.
Frankly, I would advise those conservatives and libertarians who do not wish to become slaves of state censorship to follow me in making plans to see asylum elsewhere if the state ever comes for you.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 2008-05-18 12:48:04 PM
Adam,
"Frankly, I would advise those conservatives and libertarians who do not wish to become slaves of state censorship to follow me in making plans to see asylum elsewhere if the state ever comes for you."
And go where?
China?
Middle East?
Latin America?
Russia?
Africa
Europe? Ha ha. Very Funny.
Unless you have a 1st class ticket to a secret moonbase, I'm afraid you are just going to have to stand your ground and fight in the Anglosphere, pal!
This is what humans do. Some work hard, love their families, build communities. The rest tear it down. It's always been that way.
There is no place left to run. Poverty and death have a way of naturally and enexorably showing the Left for what it is. Things will change but it will be slow and hard.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 2008-05-18 1:19:45 PM
Actually, there is exactly one place left to run: south.
There's a reason why Steyn's book is called "America Alone." If this is a place where free expression is criminal, than there really is only one last, best, hope for the human race.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 2008-05-18 1:30:22 PM
Actually, Gordon Campbell has not been entirely remiss on the Human Wrongs docket. He fired its loopy Commissioner, Mary Woo Sims, and dissolved the commission, leaving only the tribunal. It would make far more political sense for him to turf the tribunal just after an election than heading into one. We'll see.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2008-05-18 1:35:05 PM
That was 2001 Gordon Campbell, Shane. The guy who was going to fight the unions, cut spending, and stand up to left-wing insanity. On Election Night in 2001 I - the day before my high school grad dinner/dance when most kids were starting to party - after spending the day volunteering for two local campaigns got last-minute tickets to the main event and drove from Port Coquitlam to downtown Vancouver at 130+KPH in order to see his speech. After the horrors of the NDP, I was so deleriously happy at the victory that I nearly wept.
That, though, was a very long time ago.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 2008-05-18 1:38:38 PM
Adam
"Actually, there is exactly one place left to run: south."
Nice try. You'll have to fend off California, New York, DC, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Florida etc. etc.
The battleground is not in our geography. It is in the ANGLOSPHERE.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 2008-05-18 2:49:35 PM
That was the Gordon Campbell who had just won an election, Yoshida. It was also the Campbell who stood his ground in the face of an illegal teacher's strike even though public sentiment apparently favoured the teachers (I'm guessing they polled mostly childless women).
It makes more sense to take potentially unpopular action right after the election, because you have four more whole years to build your political capital back up. To do it just before an election year is to provide fodder for the chattering classes.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2008-05-18 3:43:19 PM
The moment Campbell found "religion" er, global warming, he also abandoned all faith in conservatism. You will notice that he is now behind forcing homosexual agenda in our schools, appeasing land claims which he promised never to do, running the province into a 2 billion deficit, and having the nerve to ask for Federal money for our boondoggle the Olympics. I imagine he has sold out on free speech as well.
Posted by: Faramir | 2008-05-19 2:13:02 AM
There's a reason why Steyn's book is called "America Alone." If this is a place where free expression is criminal, than there really is only one last, best, hope for the human race.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 18-May-08 1:30:22 PM
Should Obama win.... What will you do then Adam? Stick around awful BC / Canada? Or still try your luck "south"?
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2008-05-20 1:27:13 PM
Why would the BC Liberals change the law? They have done little to convince us there is any difference between them and the NDP. Abortion stats? Off limits! Free Speech during elections? Forget it! For the first time I ask myself, why vote in the next election? What have the BC Liberals done for the right of centre? Nothing....absolutely nothing. So why keep them in?
Posted by: Ted | 2008-05-21 12:09:15 AM
Ted wrote: "What have the BC Liberals done for the right of centre? Nothing....absolutely nothing. So why keep them in?"
So we can keep the NDP out. If nothing else, that's a worthwhile end in itself. Or have you forgotten the Glen Clark years?
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2008-05-22 1:17:45 PM
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