By Cecilia Forsyth
Provincial representative, National Board
President, Saskatchewan Chapter
REAL Women of Canada
The SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Human Rights Commissions (HRC) are threatening the very rights they should be protecting. The rights to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of the press are being suppressed and censored by the Human Rights Commissions.
For example, in its October 20, 2006 edition, Macleans published, “The Future Belongs to Islam,” an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book, “America Alone”. A human rights complaint followed, stating the magazine and Steyn's article “subject[s] Canadian Muslims to hatred and Islamophobia.” The complaint was filed by Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, with the Human Rights Commissions of Canada and Ontario, and in British Columbia by Elmasry and Naiyer Habib. Ontario's HRC decided it would not hear the case on the ground that it deals in denial of service on the basis of race, creed, etc, and a magazine is not a "service”. (www.steynonline.com)
Another high profile case involves a complaint against Ezra Levant, an Alberta lawyer, author, and publisher of the now-defunct Western Standard magazine. Two years ago, Levant reprinted in his magazine a selection of the Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. These cartoons had ignited violent protests throughout the Muslim world. As publisher of a news magazine, Levant believed Western Standard readers were entitled to an objective report of the Danish cartoon controversy. A radical Muslim imam, Syed Soharwardy thought otherwise. After the Calgary police refused Mr. Soharwardy’s request three different times to arrest Levant, Soharwardy filed a complaint with the Alberta HRC, accusing Levant of fostering discrimination.
Mr. Levant appeared before the Alberta commission on January 11, 2008. In his opening remarks, he questioned the commission’s attack on our fundamental freedom of free speech saying, “the commission has no legal authority to act as censor.” Levant proceeded to outline Canada's 800-year heritage of free speech under common law, the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Canada's Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights. Mr. Levant concluded by saying, “But it is not I who am on trial: it is the freedom of all Canadians.” He videotaped the interrogation and posted it on YouTube as well as his website, www.ezralevant.com.
Levant received notice on February 28, 2008 that Soharwardy had dropped his complaint with the Alberta HRC. However, an identical complaint was filed by the Edmonton Muslim Council, so the case against Levant proceeds.
Other human rights complaints which threaten free speech became public in February of this year. The targets of these complaints are Catholic Insight magazine (www.catholicinsight.com) and the federal political party, the Christian Heritage Party and its leader Ron Gray (www.chp.ca). These complaints were filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission by Rob Wells (Edmonton) over comments in their publications on homosexuality.
Section 13 of the federal Canadian Human Rights Act is the key section that allows the HRC to censor freedom of speech in Canada. This section makes it an offence to “communicate any matter that is likely to expose a person or persons to hatred and/or contempt” within a host of privileged categories, such as race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
At least two of the words contained in Section 13 have been interpreted by the Commission in a very detrimental manner. First, the word “offence” has come to mean “hurt feelings,” and the word “likely” as in “likely to expose a person to hatred” has been very broadly interpreted so that once a complaint is filed, it is taken as proof that an “offence” has occurred. It is no wonder; Human Rights Commissions are called “kangaroo courts”.
In a HRC case, there are no established rules of procedure for weighing and interpreting evidence, which can be a safeguard for both parties in an action. Furthermore, truth is not a defense in a human rights case. If a defendant argues the truth of his statements, it is used by the CHRC Tribunals as proof of guilt. In practice, there are no defenses available under human rights legislation, which may explain why no single person has ever won a case under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act in the Commissions' 30 years of existence!
There are other procedural flaws inherent in most Human Rights Commissions. Commissioners act as both judge and jury. They employ investigators to determine the facts of each case and then select the panelists for the Tribunal which will adjudicate these same facts. Those charged with human rights violations are denied the right of being presumed innocent until their guilt is proven, and the accused is forced to pay for his/her own defence – often tens of thousands of dollars, while the complainant's fees are covered by the taxpayer.
Another curious feature of the Human Rights Commissions is that anyone can file a complaint claiming offence, even if they are not a member of one of the “victim” categories. The filing of complaints is frequently done by Richard Warman, who has been the sole complainant in over half of all the cases brought before the CHRC. Since 2002, Warman has been a plaintiff on every Section 13 case, and he has won every one, acquiring damages in most of these cases. Richard Warman was formerly employed as an “investigator” of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Thankfully, one Member of Parliament sees the dangers of Section 13 in the federal Human Rights Act. On January 30, 2008 Dr. Keith Martin, Liberal MP for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca introduced a motion (M-446) calling on Parliament to delete subsection 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
According to Dr. Martin, hate crimes, slander and libel would still be outlawed under the Criminal Code, while his motion will stop human rights tribunals from the arbitrary imposition of restrictions on Canadians’ freedom of speech using taxpayers' money. “We have laws against hate crimes, but nobody has a right not to be offended," he said. "[This S.13 provision] is being used in a way that the authors of the Act never envisioned."
Many individuals and groups, including PEN Canada (An association of writers and supporters formed to defend freedom of expression) and The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), support Keith Martin's motion to scrap the so-called "hate speech" section of the Canadian Human Rights Act, Section 13 (1), upon which many HRC complaints have been based.
To support Mr. Martin’s Motion - 446, please write to:
Dr. Keith Martin, MP
300 Justice Building
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
T 613-996-2625
F 613-996-9779
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
What to Do About The Human Rights Commissions?
Since 1989 REAL Women of Canada has voiced its considerable concerns about the wide powers of the Canadian Human Rights Commissions and their Tribunals, and we have consistently called for them to be abolished, with human rights issues being properly addressed directly by the courts. We, however, realize that the original purpose of Human Rights Commissions, for which they were originally established – to assist those who experience genuine discrimination in regard to accommodation, service, employment, and membership – is still valid. However, these Commissions are now involved with quite a different subject matter – namely censorship, even though Canadians are supposed to have the right to freedom of speech, expression, religion and freedom of the press.
These Commissions have not demonstrated their ability to carry out their responsibilities properly and it is doubtful they will do so in the future.
Please write to the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and your MP expressing your concerns about the federal Human Rights Commission.
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
Langevin Building
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613 941-6900
The Honourable Robert Nicholson
Minister of Justice
105 East Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
fax: 613-992-7910
Your MP
c/o House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Please also write to your provincial Premier, Attorney General and your member of the provincial legislature to express your concerns about the Human Rights Commission in your province.
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