...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Still shilling: The jig is mostly up for Canada’s p.c. court system, what with Moses Znaimer, the PEN crowd and even, Heavens to Betsy, the Toronto Star decrying its unfair, unfree modus operendi. At the moment, the only people who still think the HRCs are performing a valuable public service are the hack bureaucrats who work for them and others who toil for the grievence industry; Muslims who cannot abide any critical discussion of their perfect—and thus unassailable—faith; and the Jewstablishment, which is addicted to the thrill of hunting down every last neo-and decrepit-Nazi in Canada, a pre-requisite, purportedly, for the Jews’ psychological well-being. And the Jews are so clueless and short-sighted that they can’t see that, on the issue of free speech, the HRC agenda dovetails very nicely with the Islamist one.

Speaking of the Islamist agenda, Bernie’s pal Harpoon, is at it again, trying to whip up support for the nation’s busy-bodies from his bully pulpit in the Toronto Star. Here’s most of today’s sermon:

According to some journalists, freedom of speech is in peril in Canada. And human rights commissions are "kangaroo courts."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Only genuine misunderstanding or deliberate distortion can explain the media's mostly one-sided discourse on the case of Maclean's before the federal, as well as the Ontario and British Columbia, human rights commissions. The group that filed the complaint against the magazine argued that a series of articles, especially a 4,800-word piece portraying Muslims as a menace to the West, may have constituted hate speech.

Canada has followed a different path on free speech than the United States, where there are no anti-hate laws because the U.S. Bill of Rights says "Congress shall make no laws ... abridging freedom of speech or of the press."

The Canadian Charter of Rights, too, guarantees "freedom of the press," but it places "reasonable limits" on it. That's why the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the anti-hate provisions of both the Criminal Code and human rights statutes.

What constitutes hate is up to the commissions and, ultimately, the courts to decide. But this being Canada, different jurisdictions tackle the issue differently…

The federal commission was mandated to deal with hate transmitted by phone. In 2001, it added the Internet. It did not foresee media websites.

Thus a conundrum for the commission: It cannot sit in judgment on what the media say in print but it can when they put the same material on their websites.

This being Canada, the commission has appointed a commission. Professor Richard Moon of the University of Windsor was asked Tuesday to come up with a solution…

…The federal commission gets up to 15,000 inquiries a year, says Jennifer Lynch, chair. "We take up only about 700 and refer only about 70 or 80 to the tribunal.

"Hate cases are only 2 per cent of that stream. The tribunal has dealt with only about 15 hate cases, so far. And not a single one of them has been overturned by the courts." So, why the hue and cry?

Karim Karim, chair of Carleton University's School of Journalism, says journalists are "fixated on their own right and privileges.

"What about the rights of people to be free of discriminatory and hateful speech? Journalists talk about one principle, and not the other."…

…Anti-hate laws could be made consistent across Canada by exempting the media, as in Ontario, or axing the anti-hate provisions altogether. We may even adopt the American system and remove the anti-hate section from the Criminal Code as well.

Many disagree, including the Canadian Jewish Congress. Its head, Bernie Farber, says the anti-hate laws have helped make Canada "the warm, tolerant and accepting nation that it has become."

Beyond the law, there's self-restraint. Most media exercise it, every day. We do not publish racist cartoons and anti-Semitic rants. That Maclean's published a series of virulent articles about Muslims itself speaks volumes.

Got that? Canadians must learn to exercise “self-restraint” by, for example, curbing their lack of enthusiasm for sharia and not getting too excited about reports that a genocidal jihadi terror outfit linked to the mullahs may be getting set to unleash an Argentina-style attack on one or more Jewish sites in Canada. The CJC’s Bernie Farber, a warm, tolerant and accepting chap if there ever was one, especially to those like Mo Elmasry and Harpoon Siddiqui who share his concerns about “hate speech,” has certainly absorbed that lesson.

As for Maclean’s “virulent” articles—well, that’s how they would be described in, say, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Here in the West we have another word for them: the “truth”.

Update: Harpoon sings the Beatles:

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:07 | link | comments (4)

Comments:

#1  22 June 2008 - 14:00

 

Dear Crazy Woman:

Your blog & songs & entries just get better and better. Keep it going!

Binks

Anonymous

#2  22 June 2008 - 14:54

 

Hey, thanks, Binks.

scaramouche

#3  22 June 2008 - 15:15

 

Who elected Bernie Farber to speak for the Jews? Let him be the dhimmi goodwill ambassador for CAIR? I'm sure that Saudi-lobbying unindicted conspirator outfit pays better anyways.

Anonymous

#4  23 June 2008 - 10:00

 

May I try? A briefer, punchier tune came to my mind when I saw the "Beatles" reference. Here's what I sort of expected. Please sing these words to the tune of SHE LOVES YOU:

We hate freedom
Of speech!
We hate freedom
Of speech!
We hate freedom
Of speech - yeah!

If you dare to speak you mind
We've got something to say-ee-ay
If you have an axe to grind
Give us a call - today-ee-ay

Because we hate freedom
Of speech!
We hate freedom
Of speech
We hate Freedom
Of speech - yeah!

We'll squash those who offend,
We guarantee, they'll lose!
We'll start with Christians
Then finish off with Jews!

Because we hate freedom
Of speech!
We hate freedom
Of speech
We hate freedom
Of speech - yeah!

I could go on, but it makes me feel kinda sad. Discovering your country is going down the toilet affects some of us that way.

Anonymous

Comments: