Common sense is emerging on Human Rights Commissions

Sorry but the time for government officials talking about the issue is long past, it is time for government action to shut down these Stalinist tribunals.

Alain is right on. However, it seem to me that the government is not about to do that. The question is how much more evidence needs be brought to their attention. I think there has long been quite enough evidence for them to act.

It's a simple matter of doing it. Governments waste no time getting things done that are to their political or financial benefit.

SO WHY ARE THEY NOT ACTING ON THIS ABOMINATION OF JUSTICE FOR CANADIANS.

SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE.

OUR GOVERNMENTS ARE ALL CORRUPT AND THESE TRIBUNALS REPRESENT POWER OVER US. THEY LIKE THAT.

but reigning them in is a great step in the right direction...

Or else a fallback position to preserve them.

I've posed this question before, why bother the pretense of being a Conservative politician in Canada, and I'm including Harper in this, if you have had your mouth nailed shut about this egregious civil rights travesty this long? If you won't protect something as basic as free speech then what's the point of pretending that you are any different from your liberal fascist opponent. What are you waiting for?

One of the problems plaguing the west is that we have dolts in all parties making elections a hold your nose and pick the lessor dolt affair.

Shame on Canadian conservatives. You are not worthy.

We want the commission to be a quasi-judicial body that has some teeth,

I'm sorry, that's exactly what is not required. We already have courts that protect people from defamation, fraud, libel and any of a number of "rights violations" the last thing we need is any deviation, any exception to how we as a people deal with legal issues in this country.

Your choice as a Canadian aught to be, take your claim to a real court or not.

That's it, that's all.

I don't know about the direction of a step on the stairs of patience. Politicians are the ones who need teeth, so they don't sound anymore like mumbling fools.

let me see now, we've seen a lot of bitching in SDA about these kangaroo courts, and now that a freshman politician steps up to the plate, what do we see,more damn whining

get a grip and support the gentleman on this, it's what we've been waiting for for cripes sake!!!

Here is a copy of my email to Lindsay Blackett:

Alberta Human Rights Commission

The Honourable Lindsay Blackett:

Sir, I have read Rick Bell's column in todays Calgary Sun. Having followed closely the proceedings and findings of that oxymoronically named provincial body, shown in my 'Subject" line, I am immensely relieved that someone in the provincial government is finally seeing fit to consider removing the power from the AHRC that permits them to make a mockery of common justice outside of the normal court system. If the AHRC is not to be abolished completely, my favourite choice, then at least it should be banned from operating under the famous clause 13 provision that has wreaked so much injustice to citizens of this province. Once successfuly challenged in one province this will sweep across the whole of Canada . I attended a presentation by Alan Borovoy, one of the original proponents of setting up Human Rights Commissions, in which he clearly said he had no inkling that those commissions over time would morph into the monstrosities they have now become. By the way he now speaks I would conider him a strong ally in any action you may contemplate..

If you want action, you need to be talking to your MLA's/MP's,etc. I have been told by one Alberta MLA that when the issue of the HRC comes up in caucus, that the room is evenly split on the issue.

Find out what your MLA's position is, and work to change their mind if they think this beast is great. The reality in Alberta is that if the caucus does not agree with it, the Minister will not go ahead with changes.

CRC

Quite frankly, it's about time the asshats in the Nanny State Gov. get a clear message:

Completely abolish these HRC's

OR

Completely abolish the Gun Registry.

One or the other, jerk-offs.

Free speech and an armed citizenry are the two biggest tools for keeping the evils of government at bay and maintaining a free society.

Either that, or it's high time us Westerners start examining very seriously if we are, indeed, in the right country.

This road we are on only goes to one destination... the speed we are travelling is far less relevant than the destination.

Didn't the Conservative party vote some 90% to repeal section 13.1 in their recent convention? Wasn't it a hot button on their agenda for the current session of parliament? What happened to this motion?

ezra is way to easy on this.Nothing short of the firing of this Becket clown,and the total dismantling of the HRC's is acceptable.

I have been told by one Alberta MLA that when the issue of the HRC comes up in caucus, that the room is evenly split on the issue.
Posted by: Crotchrocket Cowboy at February 17, 2009 11:06 PM

And this is why conservatism is such an endangered beast in Canada. On many issues there can, and should, be reasonable disagreement. In my opinion, the issue of these so-call human rights commissions is beyond reasonable debate.

They are an affront to democracy, and an affront to any freedom-loving society. If Canadian conservatives, EVEN THOSE SITTING IN GOVERNMENT, cannot bring themselves to take an obviously just position against the HRCs, what hope does conservatism in general have?

Bringing up the AHRC in the Legislature is a very good start, IMO. It is out in the open now; remember when politicians would not mention the name of Boob rhy's old pasty faced Unca Mo? Unca Mo was splashed all over the internet, when the oil for $$ Liberano scam was posted on the net and in Western Standard magazine and now no one worries about mentioning the Keyotee (Kyoto) pusher kook; Marice Strong (hiding out in China, he was afraid to leave China when President Bush was in the White-house).

If an issue is brought up in the Legislature, it is on the table and recognised in Hansard as a real problem. Thank-you Lindsay Blackette. Now that it is to be addressed, all fair minded citizens must demand that the government abolish the abomination and fire all the self- appointed tribunals and all their henchmen. If people howl long and loud; they get attention - esp. if it is the supporters of the party in power who are howling.

I read the column by Rick Bell and whop ty do do another politician looking for approval said something everyone wants to hear. I will believe it when I see something positive done. Until then unless our great conservative party in Alberta has a complete reversal of what it has been recently I will vote for the Alliance Party that has the same platform that the old Reform had.

Penney at 10:00 PM: "I've posed this question before, why bother the pretense of being a Conservative politician in Canada, and I'm including Harper in this, if you have had your mouth nailed shut about this egregious civil rights travesty this long?"
Unfortunately we have an ethnic immigrant body that votes as a block. Canada is lost unless we can persuade them that their interests are also at stake. Right now the HRC's are a boon to lazy incompetent employees and activist groups of the right persuasion.
For my part, there is too much at stake to not put up with this rights travesty for the time being. Iggy in charge would be a disaster in every way.

I have changed my mind about what I said in my prior post. If after all that has transpired in the last few years and all that good old Lindsay has to offer is that bit of crap I will definitely not be voting conservative in the future. Both he and the party he represents need to pull their ass out of you know where and do what is right. Hear is something a real conservative once said ------- “I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind.”
The Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada, House of Commons Debates on the Cdn. Bill of Rights, July 1, 1960 ------- What ever happened to the conservative party that had that kind of outlook? I hope if any elected party member reads this they will go sit in a quiet place and think about where the conservative party of today has gone astray.

conservatism has been "educated" out of the populace.

“I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind.”

Now that's the kind of talk that can get you in trouble with HRC. We don't condone any Civil Rights discussions in Canada anymore. The Charter made sure of that. Here's a simple formula to remember that will help keep you out of trouble.

Civil Rights=Racism

Now this will only work temporarily as they are changing the meaning of the term Civil Rights. If you go to Obama's White House page and look under Civil Rights there is a long list of projects. All of them are diametrically opposed to Civil Rights but they are calling them Civil Rights.

The left either had to change the meaning of the term or start saying that Martin Luther King was a racist.

I'm with GYM on this one. Lindsay Blackett stepped up and said what we've all been saying right along. He's moving to do what we wanted somebody to do.

Victory!

Now go back him up, and while you're at it thank God there's a guy out there with the stones to defy the whiner brigade.

He could get politically slaughtered for this y'know. He's off the Liberal plantation where only racist white people are supposed to be. The Left will go after him double because he's a "race traitor". That's how they think.

I will speculate the real reason governments don't simply "fire them all" or abolish the HRC's is because the top people at the HRC's are all political animals, who've been rewarded for their Party loyalty by these appointments.

Blackett's talk is a step in the right direction, more than anyone else has done, so far. Let's encourage him to bring this up in caucus. I E-mailed him from Ezra's link, hope everyone else did, too.

The kudos really should go to Rick Bell at the Calgary Sun for asking the hard questions and getting the quotes.

L. Blackett has been sitting on many, many negative reports from the public over the past 1.5 to 2 years. This is the first time he has said much of anything about the HRC. Stelmach has said even less.

All he has done so far is to recently appoint a new Head Commissioner at about $185K/year. This indicates he is not about to dissolve the HRC. The new commish has said he will look to ON and BC in terms of how to do change (wow, how nice for us).

Words, words, words. L. Blackett will deserve kudos when he actually makes change happen.

White noise!
O crap, now I'm in trouble... AHRC to the rescue. My bad.
I personally like term Tribunal instead of Commission, more apropos for what they really are (think Spanish as in inquisition).

“I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way,"

Yes, and He went down in flames, a true Caesar when the knives came out.
Conservatives always defeat themselves because they are so dammed impatient. What we want will come only with 2 to 3 terms of very good majority government. You have the Great One elected down South when conservatives stayed home on election day because they couldn't get their candy immediately. McCain wasn't the perfect conservative candidate; oh and look what they got! It's Politics folks. A great man once said that Politics is the accomplishment of the possible. It's time conservatives grew up.

If they had stopped fining companies for the crime of hiring too many white males I'd consider reforming them.

Fire them all.

McCain wasn't the perfect conservative candidate

LOL he was as conservative as Jack Layton,

but at least he was electable.......

The issue is only partially that it's a kangaroo court.
They can take the kangaroo out of the court, put in all kinds of due process, etc., but the problem still remains:
These courts are suppressing free speech by treating hurt feelings as legitimate grievances, which they aren't.
They have no business whatever regulating speech.
What is needed is the complete abolition of the whole notion of hate speech. You should be free to express your hatred as long as you don't incite to violence.
Until we see this, forget it: all is mere political window-dressing.
BUT ... we ain't ever gonna see this. This genie ain't goin' back into the bottle.

Me No Dhimmi, I have to say that I agree with you, very sadly.

There are just too many losses in too many institutions over too many decades—not to mention that the majority of the population is, for the above reasons, brain dead. (This includes many friends and family members: facts mean NOTHING to them, except that they like me less and think I’m being intrusive if I mention the kind of information their sources would never provide. I keep my mouth shut—and feel disenfranchised, a lot!) We elected as bad as Obama long ago: Trudeau, Chretien, and Martin.

I've self-censored for more than a decade now and I see very little light at the end of the tunnel, unless . . . people get so g**d***ed angry they somehow take matters into their own hands. The “slow march through the institutions” makes it almost impossible for institutional change: the sycophants and toadies who run them (into the ground) like things just the way they are, thank you. I’m involved in a number of institutions and my heart sinks at the mediocrity and sheer decrepitude and lack of truth and standards I see on a daily basis.

I guess it’s better that Lindsay Blackett said what he did—or maybe not. Maybe it’s just a sop.

IMO, we’re already over the edge of the abyss. (So was Frodo, and Samwise pulled him back . . . But we in the West don’t seem to share the Hobbit values anymore. Hope is a Christian virtue, but, temporally, I more often feel doom. . .)

I think that's the "LONG march through the institutions", not the "slow march".

Slow? It's spreading like wildfire!

lookout: unless . . . people get so g**d***ed angry they somehow take matters into their own hands

Well, I think with the financial/economic tsunami civil disorder is on the horizon. I can feel it in my bones. I have a suspicion that a lot of this nuttiness is the product of prosperity, times of surplus. Those times are gone, and possibly for a very, very long time. And perhaps some kind of public sobriety will be ushered in and this nonsense will collapse. I can't imagine the HRCs harrassing an already economically harrassed public. They'd be too afraid of the pushback.

I've come around to Kathy Shaidle's point of view: civil disobedience. Just don't show up. I can't imagine those craven bureaucrats risking their jobs going after a refusenik.
And you know what: I bet they've got Kathy's name on a Do Not Disturb list!

But not for one second do I believe that Government of any stripe in Canada will actually do more than "study" this issue. And I can vividly imagine the impossible optics of shutting them down: "see, the Conservatives are pro-hate".

To me the HRC is the enforcement arm of the multiculti project with which the elites are so enamoured. They know the public doesn't go for this massive 3rd world and too often hostile immigration. So they need to suppress dissent. Crowd control.

I couldn't agree more with your point about how impervious people can be to facts. I had one very long and stressful e-mail exchange with an old "friend" who claimed that Bush lied about WMD. I found a list of 35 quotes from Dem elites decrying the dangers of Saddam and WMD, including both Clintons. No impact. You're right: it's not a case of missing facts. It's wilful ignorance in the service of a utopian ideology. Hermitage, or self-censorship are the only options; I lean toward the former.

Me No Dhimmi, 'interesting that you should use the word "hermitage". As the "ice floe" on which I find myself gets smaller and smaller, it's a concept I've truly begun to think about.

Your response has made my day: what a change from being surrounded by people who'd look at me like I were from Mars or worse, if I said what I really think. (Though, sometimes I do--guardedly: not about politics, but about incivility: most people agree on that but refuse to admit "root causes": relativism and multiculturalism, which are Canada's new religions--attached too often to indiscriminate immigration by those who do NOT contribute positively to this country, and have no intention of doing so, and aren't supposed to be criticized.)

Without SDA, I think I'd be going nuts (well, more nuts)!

Done to Mr.Blackett and cc'd to my MLA, whom I have previosly written on this matter and was blown off.

Do I think Mr.Blackett will get anywhere? Nope, but he will have started something positive, and I agree with the previous comment that this will not change overnight. It will take time and we must not give up. Ed Stelmach is not the 'man' to do it. He's a wishy-washy conservative at best.