More.
Update: It’s like an IQ test for the HRC-cheering section of the Canadian leftosphere, really. When even Glen Greenwald gets it, it speaks volumes about those who don’t;
Here are the noxious fruits of hate speech laws: a citizen being forced to appear before the Government in order to be interrogated by an agent of the State — a banal, clerical bureaucrat — about what opinions he expressed and why he expressed them, upon pain of being punished under the law. This is nothing short of stomach-turning…
I find myself thinking of all the farcical ‘decisions’ by these HRC’s over the years. (Christian organizations/businesses ordered to pay fines to homosexuals or their organizations)
If/when the HRC’s are closed down, I think our governments should reimburse these people the fines they paid. If we can recoup the money from the ‘offended’, then fine – but the wrong done to these people needs to be redressed – and our collective silence is what allowed them to run roughshod over the rights of our fellow Canadians.
The internet will be the agent of change as opposed to MSM, with anything involving the “hrc” kangaroo court.
Ezra’s YouTube presentations are going world wide and are very hard to refute by anyone in regards to free men, free of state thought or speech control.
Okanagan hit the nail on the head. The silence of the trolls is deafening. Couple this with the debunking of the AGW scam and 2008 is not starting out very well for them.
Go Ezra Go!
Does anyone know where I can get some “GO EZRA GO” bumper stickers, Tshirts, hats etc.
Lets get this out in the public. Ezra is the new uber Canadian.
Where is the media coverage of this event and Ezra’s statements? As others have noted, there are very few news stories mentioning the hearing. In the United States, this would be front page news on every major daily and a top story on news broadcasts of whatever stripe. I do not believe that Canadians value their rights, and the price of such indifference is to lose those rights. The MSM is complicit in this sell-off of Canadian freedoms. Go Ezra — one of the few remaining public figures who seems to care about what being a Canadian should stand for.
Gotta agree with Jim and rebarbarian, if you work there and get payed there, you’re part of the problem.
I published one of those cartoons on my blog; so did Angry and Kate. They’re coming after us next, right? hahaha
Off on a tangent, but –
rebarbarian
“I doubt whether Stalin or Hitler personally killed anyone.”
Check out Stalin’s early career in Georgia.
LinsaL writes: “In the United States, this would be front page news…”.
Linda, I live in the U.S. Sadly, were it not for the Internet, I would know nothing about this obscene HRC. I’ve monitored the websites of CNN and the NY Times, and they have reported absolutely nothing regarding the persecutions of Steyn and Levant. I am not at all sure that we are as different from Canada as we might like to think.
Watching this bureaucrat reminds me of the film “The Wansee Conference”, and the description of the bureaucrats in “The Gulag Archipelago” — it’s this “banality of evil” someone described — “Just doing my job”, nine to five at the einsatzgruppe; these cases require a lot of “analysis” — Holy crow! Any laws broken? Any due process? Any Miranda rights (I know — an American concept)? Way to go Ezra. And how are the finances holding up?
Is this possibly a Twisted Sister moment in Canadian history?
Here’s a link to Ezra on the CBC’s As it Happens:
http://canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/14371.shtml
I believe we should show our support also by being offensive. go on the offence. its time for the pendulum to swing the other way.
like cjunkers challenge
Islam lends itself to humiliation as it cannot stand up to reason or intelectual challenge.
that is the weak underbelly of this beast.
offence against pc also
Ezra is correct. Private thoughts are not subject to Federal or Provincial law.
Public actions are. Political cartoons were published.
There were no special emergency laws prohibiting political cartoons at the time.
Simply obvious that no standard or emergency law was broken.
Furthermore, the cartoons had important news information value for Canadians.
I and many other Canadians resent that bureaucrats can quietly decide to keep us in the dark, * for our own good*.
If there were to be a sudden outbreak of terrorism in Canada, a shocking number of uninformed Canadians would be totally shocked, vulnerable and helpless to enact any civil defense.
I*m guessing, but suspect that thousands of younger Canadians may not even understand the concept of civil defense. = TG
Go on the offensive, good idea.
What if the HRC got 2 or 3 hundred complaints a day, for a month or two? They must investigate every complaint. It appears that they accept hand written complaints so it should be easy.
Here’s my complaint: As a Ukrainian Canadian, I was disgusted that noone celebrated Christmas when I did. I did not get Ukrainian Christmas off from work because they do not recognize my calendar. This caused me and my family great distress. I was not able to be at home to make homemade perogies for my family. I was clearly discriminated against. /sarcasm, sort of.
Way to go Ezra!!
To paraphrase Cordell Hull:
He may sound like a bit of a pompous windbag, but he’s our pompous windbag.
Excessive windbaggery and showboating might be damn well necessary when dealing with a faceless, nameless, blameless foe that uses your own money against you against your will.
Relevant and well said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhN6CG1zCRc
Spend the time to watch, it’s worth the price of admission 🙂
this woman is a stupid, mindless, bureaucrat and she is why organizations such as hrc’s can exist and function. most government agencies are staffed by stupid people like this.
I’d go easy on Ms. McGovern. She seems to be going through the motions…”I have to ask you this to please those who pay me.” She could not even articulate why the questions was relevant. There are much, much, much worse people to deal with at these commissions.
We are plainly dealing here with political speech and freedom of the press which should and likely does enjoy the highest protection under the Charter. I hope this gets up to the SCC while McLachlin is still Chief Justice–she is an admirer of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who coined the judicial expressions “marketplace of ideas” and “clear and present danger” with respect to free speech.
He,s wrong you cannot publish whatever you want. we have laws, called hate crime, try to get a copy of mein comf (thats right its banned) People do get charged all the time. Just try to publish lies about the the priminister and see where you will end up.
RE: Angry is OK. Hateful is not…
But, but….
I HATE the way this abuse of the justice system is tolerated, encouraged, and promoted by the CBC, the Liberal Party, The NDP, etc, etc, etc. It is the end result of left wing ‘tolerance’ gone mad. and embarrassing to the ‘free’ people of Canada. Little did we know how thin that veneer of freedom really is. This hearing makes a mockery of justice, imo. The video looks like a scene from a bad movie but who could make that up? Nobody would believe it could happen here.
Video number five is up……… she tells him he is entitled to his opinions!!!!!!
It is to cry.
There is a link on Hot Air to the videos as well. Seems Ezra is a rock star because he told this government robot to get stuffed.
Need to take those Whabbists and kick them the F out.
Peter – You are wrong. You can get a copy of Mein Kampf in many books stores, and publishing lies about the P.M., or anyone else is covered by libel laws like it is in any civilized country. publishing something that is true, that may or may not be construed as hate is not the same thing as libel, and as long as it is true should be protected by our ancient freedoms.
I’d just like to say that the cooler heads here are correct. Don’t spam or abuse anyone, but a good letter is OK.
For those seeking to donate, there is a “Donate” button on Ezra’s site.
I think Lori’s post of Jan 12, 8:45PM, deserves consideration. Our focus should be on principles, not on personalities, which is precisely where Levant placed his emphasis. Notice how, with few if any exceptions, Levant refrained from using the word “you” when denouncing the process and instead identified his opponent as “the state”. Even so, his presentation was not lacking in effect. Even the interviewer, though her arms were often crossed defensively, at times seemed to relax somewhat as he made his points.
Public opinion, which is what we need to influence, turns only too often on shallow emotion (witness the U.S. elections). The last thing we want to do is turn a faceless bureaucrat into a martyr.
…for those who may not have a contacts list handy.
Hector Goudreau – Alberta Minister of Tourism,Parks, Recreation & Culture. Also Minister i/c of the AB Human Rights Commission
tprc.minister@gov.ab.ca
Alberta Human Rights & Citizenship Commission
humanrights@gov.ab.ca
Premier Stelmach
premier@gov.ab.ca
Ezra & Kate are going above and beyond. The least we can do is help them out by writing/e-mailing. Phoning is to easily ignored/dismissed.
My letters went about a month ago and so far there have been two responses. Nothing yet from the premier’s office, but it seems they are listening. They do pay attention to letters in AB, particularly if there are lots of them.
Contrast this appalling Muslim witch hunt against Ezra with the “works” of this Canadian “artist”:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=232075
I always love it when artistic luvvies think they’re vicariously shocking something called the “establishment.”
I wonder if the “artist” has a sculpture of Mohammed in his pornographic repertoire?
I doubt it: he knows all too well that it’s perfectly safe to offend Christianity but offending Islam is likely to get him his head lopped off.
My comment at 8:48 was written before viewing the most recent (?) tape, in which Levant does indeed address his interviewer directly and identify her with the process. And, I must admit, he didn’t hurt his case one bit. He called her a thug and, speaking just for myself, I found his candor refreshing. Still, I think Lori’s point was well taken.
@murray: “I’d go easy on Ms McGovern. She seems to be going through the motions . . .” Murray, that’s exactly the reason we shouldn’t go easy on McGovern. I’m not saying do anything personally to harass or threaten her, however, she is participating in an inquisitorial attack on Ezra’s and our fundamental freedoms as part of a larger, more sinister organization which operates outside any recognizable system of justice, or democratic accountability. Maybe she’ll claim she’s “just following orders”. That’s the whole point, a democracy needs people who don’t just follow orders. To avoid the risk of nothing more than being transferred to another department she is voluntarily participating in an egregious violation of others right to free speech. I’m sure many of the einsatzgruppe were just “going through the motions” — load, point, fire — no big emotional investment or enthusiasm for the task. But that was enough to visit destruction on an entire people. Imagine if McGovern stopped and said “You’re right; this is an un-democratic violation of your rights and the complaint is completely baseless. I’m not going any further” She’d be a hero. But she won’t do it. Freedom needs a spine and independent thinking and she and her organization have neither. She is the ultimate threat to our freedom.
When the state presumes to “grant” (rather than simply recognize) rights, such as freedom of speech or religion, it is really proscribing rights, because it assumes the authority to oversee the apparatus that “protects” them, i.e., the courts. What the state giveth, the state may re-define, limit, or take away.
A good example is same-sex marriage. The courts diminished religious freedoms by narrowly defining religion as the rites of worship within a religious place of worship. As any practicing Christian knows, that is not what religion is. It permeates every waking action and thought. It is exercised in private and in public.
A Christian marriage planner should be free to decline to participate in the planning of a marriage that she views as illegitimate. She is not.
Bed-and-breakfast owners should be free to decline to participate in immoral behaviour — and that would include declining a room to an unmarried couple; they are not. In the case of the PEI B&B owners, they were given a stark choice — take a government rehabilitation course (echoes of the Soviet Union) and open your beds to homosexual couples, or shut down.
They chose the latter.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms has become an instrument used by the state to undemocratically impose its views on its citizens — and I use the expression “its citizens” advisedly.
Freedom of conscience, speech, and religion?
Who do you think you’re kidding.
DrD:
Good post. With minor changes in wording, your post could be directed to Ms. McGovern herself without in any way resembling the ad hominem attacks that often disfigure public discourse. In fact, your words could be construed as a merciful invitation to reconsider her position.
Below, a copy of my e-mail to the AHR(sic)C:
To whom it may concern:
I am appalled by the questions being asked publisher Ezra Levant. In fact, I’m appalled that the AHRC has even made the decision to “arbitrate” the complaint of Imam Syed Soharwardy who, himself, has said any number of things which are “offensive” to Jews and many in Canada who value genuine democratic rights and freedoms. ‘Last time I looked, Canada was a democracy where all of its citizens have certain inalienable rights, for instance, to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, to name but a few.
It would seem that this so-called “case” against Ezra Levant and The Western Standard violates all of these inalienable rights and freedoms, which every Canadian citizen should be assured of without fear of harrassment in the form of being hauled before a Human Rights (sic) Commission for the purpose of being interrogated as to the intent of certain materials they have chosen to publish .
On what grounds was the decision made to give credence to Syed Soharwardy’s complaint against Ezra Levant and The Western Standard ? Surely, as a publisher, Ezra Levant is well within his democratic rights to publish anything he chooses, regardless of the fact that it might be “offensive” to some.
I’ll tell you what is far more offensive: It is this idea that if someone or some group finds offence by something that is said or written, they can complain–in this, a democracy–to a Human Rights (sic) Commission, have their complaint taken seriously, have the Canadian taxpayers pay for their being offended, while the “offender” (still not proven: in democratic Canada isn’t one considered innocent until proven guilty?) is forced to defend him/herself totally at his/her expense.
What is wrong with this picture? What is just about this? What is reasonable about this? I would suggest to you that there is nothing just or reasonable about this process. As Mr. Levant has already pointed out, the process is the first punishment, chances being that there will be many more to come. The fact that he is put in the position of having to defend himself and to pay for his defence, while radical Islamist Imam Soharwardy is being defended, as it were, by the AHRC, all at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer, is a gross infringement and travesty of justice. And this is happening in a democracy?
There is absolutely nothing democratic about this case, and the AHRC is going way outside the bounds of assuring the democratic freedoms of all Canadian citizens. The AHRC is, essentially, giving preferential treatment to Mr. Soharwardy while putting in the dock Ezra Levant and his publication The Western Standard.
As a Canadian taxpayer and citizen I strongly oppose this AHRC process, and demand an end to the harrassment of Ezra Levant. He is a Canadian citizen who has inalienable rights–to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, etc. Imam Syed Soharwardy also has these rights assured to him–but they do not extend to his right to harrass an individual or publication, and haul them before a deeply undemocratic agency such as the AHRC, simply because his feelings have been hurt, simply because he is offended.
Shut this farcical, shameful, unjust, unreasonable, circus down. The whole process is deeply damaging to the fabric of our democracy.
Freedom of speech is a foundational freedom that all other freedoms are built on.
In attacking this critical freedom the HRC has declared war on all of us.
In a war, it’s important to know who the enemy is and where they are at all times. To that end, as much as the enemy has this information on Ezra, we should make their personal information public. Ms. McGovern and her cohort ‘officers’ pictures and personal information must be published for all to see. This will give them the same threatening sense of dread and worry they inflict on their victims.
They must be shamed and shunned by society.
They must not be allowed to carry out their illegal war of rot from the safety of anonymity, silence and shadow.
C.S. Lewis: “the greatest evil… is conceived and ordered… in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars… who do not need to raise their voice.” (Preface to the Screwtape Letters)
Last night I listened to the national anthem being sung and when I heard the words “true patriot love in all thy sons command” I thought about Ezra and Steyn and I became deeply offended that: a non-Canadian who has no interest in “true patriot love” has attacked one of our basic freedoms in an attempt to undermine our culture in order to twist it towards his own.
His preaching undermines our culture, he is a subversive and should not be permitted to stay in this country.
I think the HRC should be inundated with complaints along these lines. Unfortunately they would see that as justification for their existance rather than a criticism of their existance.
Let’s assume that all these ridiculous “human rights” complaints are successful and the law of the land turns into “you can’t offend anyone”.
Here’s one interesting effect:
The Holocaust will no longer be able to be discussed in ANY way.
Deny it = offend Jews
Admit it = offend Germans
Or the rape of Nanking:
Deny it = offend Chinese
Admit it = offend Japanese
So we end up in a no-mans land where historically repugnant events can’t be mentioned, discussed or analyzed in any way. Heck even run of the mill events will no longer be able to be discussed for fear of offending someone (or someone who will claim offense on behalf of some group)
I’m more than a little confused here.
What human right did Ezra violate?
Where is it written that thou shalt not publish a cartoon?
Where is it written that not being ‘insulted’ is a human right?
Where is it written that anyone’s religion is beyond crtique?
Where is it written that one cannot make valid comment about a historical figure?
Could someone point out the legislation that bans all of this?
RE: Complaints….Unfortunately they would see that as justification for their existance rather than a criticism of their existance.
I agree. I think at one point Ezra called her unCanadian. The questioner looked very ticked off when Ezra said unCanadian. HRC might make him pay for that one. In my experience, with many of todays Liberals and NDP, being a leftwinger and a totaltarian (they of course much prefer being called ‘social democrats’) is Canadian and that cannot and must not be ever be questioned or doubted.
GO EZRA! Ezra Levant….superstar. The basic issues he addresses here could and should echo far and wide. I think Ezra does very well and his position is strong. Would like to see the end result being the HRC ‘splaining how it has reached such a low point but HRC does have power and can slap Ezra down. Hard. Let the interrogation begin, indeed.
I agree with going easy on Ms McGovern on the one hand but on the other she needs to come to the realization that what she is doing is not “honest” work. That “commission” is a sham that is working against everything our country is suppose to stand for. There is nothing wrong with EL going hard against the commission on bringing this complaint to the stage it is at. They should have told the Imam to go back to his Mosque, form a circle with his Islamofacist friends and sing cum-ba-ya. Maybe invite a suicide bomber in with them. (Oh boy, here come the charges!!)
I wonder how long it will take them to decide that recording these “procedures” is not in the best interest of the “public” and that they should be held in secret.
Largs:
The decision has probably been made already. After all, the tapes have been out for an entire day… plenty of time to realize one’s “mistake”.
‘Total double standard at work in this case at the AHRC: It’s OK to offend publishers, Jews, readers of the Western Standard, the free and democratic process in Canada–which was bought at a great price, judicial fairness, etc. but it’s not OK to offend an Islamofascist Imam, a recent newcomer to Canada.
What gives?
‘Wonder what brought Imam Syed Soharwardy to Canada in the first place? Once here, he should play by OUR rules, not his. And now HIS rights are being defended, at the expense of each Canadian taxpayer, while another Canadian who, in our democracy, is assured of freedom of expression, religion, speech, and the press has to defend himself at his own expense.
Sad Canada, alright.
It’s time for us to “stand on guard for thee.”
I’ve written a straightforward e-mail to the AHRC asking them to justify their hearing of this case. ‘Nothing over the top or ad hominem, just facts, to let them know that what they’re involved in here is totally unacceptable in a democratic country.
Largs ,
Oh how I would to see that . If these fools are paying any attention at all they will notice this story is gaining momentum rapidly .
So, now that we have all said “Go Ezra Go!” what is each of us who are outraged by this HRC travesty prepared to do to take back Canada from the ultra-Leftists (uber-Liberals)?
Every blogger should post a cartoon a day. Each of us can write an e-mail to Ed Stelmach, AHRC, the MSM etc. in protest of this inquisition.
Muslims are using our Canadian institutions and the useless Liberals as vehicles to silence us and impose their Islamofascism upon us.
Are we going to go quietly? The best way to support Ezra is through visible outrage and protest. My letters are being sent. Where are yours?
PS: This is what you get for voting LIBERAL!!!!
HEH , how’s this for a start Gypsy ?
” He’s dead, by the way”
Yes and there is sufficient documented evidence to believe he died of an unseemly ailment that is rarely associated with the chaste disposition of holy men. His sporadic violent outbursts and “visions” (following hallucinating “seizures”) and the confused contradictory dictums reveal a mind wracked by a battle with lues venerea…which he appears to have suffered under for some decades as either a result of parental promiscuity or after his profligate life as a brutal plundering slaver-brigand.
If this is the guy you want to pattern as a religious role model (prophet), it’s no wonder the choice takes constant defense with coercive threats and violence.
Silence infidel!!
From the 1st century onward there have only been 2 directives for the spread of “the true faith”
Christian martyrdom = I will die for what I believe in
Islam martyrdom = YOU will die for what I believe in.
Boy oh boy is it a good thing it’s Ezra Levant on “trial” and not me.
If that was a video of *Mr.g* being on “trial” in one of these kangaroo courts,the only thing you’d see for 10 minutes is my hands around that woman’s neck squeezing the life out of her for subjecting me to this outrageous effrontery!Nuck,Nuck,Nuck!!!!!!!!
Mr.g
Donate, people. This isn’t free for Ezra. I just hit his PayPal jar — he needs a lot more people to do the same. His lawyer’s probably costing him an absolute minimum of $250.00/hr., likely a lot more.
Then all us Albertans need to tell “Steady Eddie” that we’ll vote for the candidate in the upcoming provincial election who promises to either abolish the AHRC outright or severely limit the scope of its mandate, by statute.