Aggression Against Christians Acceptable in Canada

On February 23rd, Hedy Fry, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women held a roundtable strategy discussion in Ottawa with representatives from Canadian business, law enforcement and "civil society" groups, together with officials from the Departments of Canadian Heritage, Justice and the Solicitor General to develop a "National Anti-hate Strategy." The press release resulting from this strategy session reported that there were "recent reports of increased hate activity in Canada." In its background paper detailing "hate," the department included homophobia, racism and anti-semitism.

While Hedy Fry appears to be alarmed about the increasing hate activity in Canada, it would seem her criteria are very selective. Hate crime can apparently be directed only towards her favourite people, which, unfortunately, do not seem to include Christians. This became obvious when Ms. Fry failed to utter the slightest objection to the hatred expressed by her feminist sisters on International Women's Day, March 8, 2000, when they viciously attacked a Catholic church in Montreal.

"Hate" Crime Against Catholic Church

A group of feminists, calling themselves the "Collectif Autonome Feministe," were in Phillips Square in Montreal to protest their supposed oppression by the patriarchy. Following their protest, they donned ski masks and launched an assault on nearby Mary Queen of the World Catholic Cathedral. They spray-painted on the church, "Religion - A Trap for Fools," and erected a burning cross outside. Inside, they disrupted worshippers by spray-painting slogans on the altar, overturning flower pots, sticking used sanitary napkins on pictures and walls, and throwing condoms around the sanctuary ¯ while screaming in foul language their opposition to religion and claiming the right to abortion and freedom of speech. Since Quebec has the highest abortion rate in the Western world, their protests seem to come from somewhere in the Twilight Zone!

What is particularly striking about their ugly demonstration, however, is the reaction to it by police and the media.

The Police

The gallant Montreal police did not lay charges of hatred against an identifiable group (Catholics) as explicitly set out in S.318 of the Criminal Code. Instead, the police laid a single charge of "unlawful assembly" against seven of the demonstrators ¯ a charge for which it is notoriously difficult to obtain a conviction. Other possible offenses such as disrupting a clergyman in the performance of his duties; interrupting persons assembled for religious worship; nuisance; mischief to property; and theft (they stole two altar cloths) - appeared not to be "appropriate" according to the police. When questioned about why more obvious charges, such as inciting hatred, were not laid, a police spokesperson replied that there was no evidence of a "hate" crime here but merely a political statement (made by the ski-masked intruders!)

Concordia history professor Graeme Decarie supported the police in this astonishing conclusion with the trenchant thought that unlike attacks on synagogues and mosques, this attack was motivated by serious "policy" differences. We see. Hate crimes are truly special, and they only become "hateful" when the attacks are made on favoured, protected identifiable groups - attacks on all other groups are not "hateful."

The Media

Equally astonishing was the reaction of the media to this vile event. The only newspapers to cover it were the National Post., the Sarnia Observer and the Guelph Mercury. The Montreal Gazette, only a stone's throw away from the church (or, as noted by National Post columnist, Mark Steyn, "…only a sanitary napkin's throw away from the church"), made a brief reference to this event only on the back page of the newspaper. The article was nestled in between the classified ads for call girls, escort services and massages. This gives some indication as to how very unimportant this incident was to the editors of the Montreal Gazette.

In an editorial in the National Post on March 9th, entitled "Where is the Outrage?":

Imagine the reaction if a Jewish synagogue in Toronto was attacked by an anti-Semitic-mob, shouting insults and ripping up prayer books. Imagine if members of the Ku Klux Klan were to burn a cross on the front lawn of a black church in Halifax. The result takes little guessing ¯ these hateful acts would dominate the national media for days, and politicians would be denouncing the perpetrators.

Not only would the police charge those involved with everything from trespass to arson, to vandalism to spreading hatred against identifiable groups, but federal and provincial human rights commissions would slap the offenders with civil actions as well. The CBC's public soul-searching would be mind-numbing.

Well, it happened in Montreal ¯ but instead of a Jewish synagogue or a black church, it was a Catholic church that was attacked, robbed, vandalized and desecrated with a burning cross.

… Anti-Christian hostility is one of the last acceptable bigotries in Canada.

… Whenever such examples are cited to justify the charge of a double standard penalizing Christian groups, eyebrows are raised and shoulders politely shrugged. But we would never accept an attack on other religious groups and we should not remain silent when Catholics are the targets of intolerance.

Have we, as a nation, come to this: hypocrisy and blatant intolerance for the Christian faith?

Particularly alarming is the complacence of our legal system and the media to these attacks on the Christian faith in Canada. Human Rights Commissions repeatedly disparage Christian beliefs, as do our courts (such as in the Surrey School Board case). Much of the media fails to express any concern about these attacks on Christians. When the legal and social structures of society tolerate these attacks, it is not unreasonable to assume that Christians in Canada today are becoming genuine victims.

Hedy Fry is in need of "sensitivity" training - to make her sensitive to the attacks on all Canadians, including Christians.

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