NORTHERN GAG RULE: HATE LAWS IN CANADA
By Harmony Grant
14 Apr 08
In Canada , the Human Rights Commission (CHRC) investigates “hate
crimes.” Its mandate comes from Sec. 13.1 of the Human Rights
Act, which criminalizes any phone or Internet message “likely
to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt." This incredibly
broad hate speech statute is ripe for abuse. CHRC has lately come under
serious fire for such abuse.
There are public calls for federal and provincial CHRC bodies to
be reformed or even abolished! In Canadian Parliament, a liberal politician
even said the federal commission should lose “the mandate to
investigate hate speech.” His cause is supported by the Canadian
Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) which has testified against
Canada ’s federal “anti-hate” law since the sixties.
Canadians have become increasingly aware that “human rights” and “anti-hate” laws
have been used to prosecute legitimate free speech. The
National Post says hate laws have been used against “mainstream
journalists, notably the staff of Maclean's magazine, who are accused
of Islamophobic hate messages by the Canadian Islamic Congress for,
among other things, columns and a book review.” There has been
public protest as mainstream figures like Mark Steyn and others faced
investigations for “hate speech,” mainly for criticizing
radical Islam.
Thought Cops
Demonstrating the power that hate laws give to bureaucrats, one man
was responsible for alleging all but two of the 13 hate speech cases
decided by the CHRC Tribunal. (The tribunal accepts cases that federal
or provincial commissions can’t handle.)
Richard Warman used to work for the CHRC before becoming an ardent
activist—a “human rights” lawyer awarded a 2007 human
rights award from the Canadian Jewish Congress. Warman has won all
ten of his submitted cases, in which he has complained against far-right
activists such as Northern Alliance and the Canadian Ethnic Cleansing
Team. Canada ’s largest political discussion forum online, Free
Dominion, faced a human rights complaint last summer. The complaint
was dropped, but Warman later sued Free Dominion for “defaming” him
as an opponent of freedom.
One of Free Dominion’s founders—Connie
Fournier—writes on her blog, “The most vocal writers
who have been fighting the human rights commissions have been threatened
with lawsuits and worse.” Fournier notes that Canadian Christians
are increasingly aware of the threat that hate crime laws present
to their freedom as believers.
“The Canadian Human Rights Commission has already been used
on many occasions to shut down websites and to place lifetime speech
bans on webmasters who have been hauled before its tribunals,” says
Fournier. This record demonstrates how Canadian law could be used against
the “homophobic hate speech” of Bible-believing Christians.
Mark Steyn—one of the mainstream writers accused of “hate” by
the CHRC—says
pithily, “What is the real threat to Canada ? A shmuck who
calls himself a "supremacist" but lives in a basement flat
and can't afford a lawyer? Or the supple expansive soft totalitarianism
of unaccountable stage agencies above the law who believe they're entitled
to do anything in pursuit of phantom enemies?”
In 1999, Canada ’s prime minister said, “Human Rights
Commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental
freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society…It
is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff."
(BC Report Newsmagazine, January 11, 1999)
And so he should. Censorship is a full-scale project for the Canadian
government. Last month it
announced a plan “that would allow it to pull financial aid
for any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the
public's best interest.”
Mainstream US media has virtually nothing to say about the Canadian
crackdown. Media monitor Newsbusters notes, “New
York Times searches on "Catholic Insight," "Levant," Maclean's," and "Mark
Steyn," and "Canadian Human Rights Commission" return
no results—none—relevant to any of the matters described
above. A Google News search on ["canadian human rights commission" "catholic
insight"] (typed as indicated) returned six items, none from Old
Media. The same search done in the Google News archive for 2007 came
back bone dry.”
But internet lovers of freedom aren’t so ignorant. We know
censorship attempts abound. That’s because freedom of speech
also abounds. The political landscape may seem black. Jewish
corporate giants enjoy a stranglehold on traditional media. (See, Jews
Confirm Big Media Is Jewish) But there has never been greater potential
for change, thanks to non-traditional media—the internet.
Connie Fournier says Canadian hate crime laws make her shudder for
the future of Christians. But she says, “At no time in North
American history have ordinary citizens had as much political power
as they do today. Words written by the stay-at-home mom, the
computer nerd or the diesel mechanic are being thrust under the noses
of politicians and pundits who have previously been able to whitewash
the opinions of those who had no public platform.”
Freedom Explosion
The internet’s power is very threatening to those seeking to
control Western society. In
Australia, for example, state and federal attorneys-general are
considering a plan to censor the internet of “race hate.” They
commissioned a report about how to “to combat race-hate sites
by ordering internet service providers to take them down.” NSW
Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said, "Any material that incites
vilification and hatred is of concern. Material on the internet is
a particular concern because it provides a cheap and easy means of
dissemination to a very wide audience."
Many people still have real trouble understanding the concept of
freedom. If you take it away from one person, the freedom of every person is threatened. Freedom of speech means freedom for the speech
you hate.
Canadian National Post columnist Marni
Soupcoff points out that those who have “called for an
end to the CHRC’s power to investigate hate speech are fully
aware that much of the writing and speech the commission encounters
is malicious and vicious. But we’re also aware that if the
right to free expression is to mean anything at all, then even the
cruelest of the cruel speakers are entitled to its protection.”
That means—yes—that homosexual activists can create “acid-tinged” rap
shows like “Bash’d” about
two “gay gangsta angels” that originated in a gay bar.
It also means pastors can stand up before their congregations—or
on the steps of a city hall—and proclaim the truth that sodomy
is a sinful destructive choice that tears society apart.
Such freedom of speech must remain! It faces increasing threats,
and it’s up to us to make use of the internet for all it's worth
-- while we still can.
Harmony Grant writes and edits for National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog group.
Let the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith teach you how they
have saddled 45 states with hate laws capable of persecuting Christians: http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/intro.asp.
Learn how ADL took away free speech in Canada and wants to steal
it now in the U.S. Congress. Watch Rev. Ted Pike's Hate
Laws: Making Criminals of Christians at video.google.com. Purchase
this gripping documentary to show at church. Order online at www.truthtellers.org for
$24.90, DVD or VHS, by calling 503-853-3688, or at the address below.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on this
topic. Call (503) 631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
