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Barbarian-phobic Barbarian-phobic We couldn't resist posting this one! Check out the editorial cartoon by Brian Gable, from the Globe and Mail: Read more
Supreme Court Ruling on Free Speech tomorrow! Supreme Court Ruling on Free Speech tomorrow! The Supreme Court of Canada will release the long-awaited decision on the Bill Whatcott case. We reported on that case when it was heard 16 months ago (click here to read up on the case). We will post the results as soon as we know what they are. In the meantime, you are on notice that whatever the decision is, we must work to eliminate t... Read more
But some animals are more equal than others But some animals are more equal than others From the National Post: The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint against a women’s studies professor who fought a Catholic volunteerism program at Brock University, saying [the professor's] anti-Catholic comments were offensive, but not akin to discrimination. Although the complainant was treated differently due to his... Read more
Alberta court of appeal dismisses appeal against Boisson Alberta court of appeal dismisses appeal against Boisson The Calgary Sun reports that, after a legal fight lasting nearly 11 years over a letter to the editor, Prof. Darren Lund is disappointed Alberta’s Court of Appeal dismissed his case, allowing “free reign to hate mongers”. Rev. Stephen Boisson is the minister who, after writing and publishing this letter in his local paper was fined and o... Read more
Why Do We Still Have Hate Speech Laws? While not specifically dealing with the Human Rights Commissions, Tribunals and Codes, Andrew Coyne tackles the idea of hate speech laws and why they don't work in a functioning democracy. He makes a number of good points which our provinces should take to heart in evaluating their own human rights codes. Andrew Coyne National Post July ... Read more
Head of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on Stress Leave Head of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on Stress Leave The working atmosphere of the CHRT begs the question - if it needs to be investigated for harassment among other things, how can it be in charge of determining "human rights" offenses for the nation? Selection from the Vancouver Sun, April 23 2012: The Ottawa Citizen has also learned that the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commis... Read more
Did tribunal exceed its authority? Supreme Court of Canada will decide Thursday if human rights decision should be upheld Vancouver Sun, March 21 2012: On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the appeal of Moore v. British Columbia Ministry of Education. Among other things, this case will decide whether the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has the authority to dictate what services the B.C. government provides. Jeffrey Moore started grade school in... Read more
A right to special treatment Pamela Howson clearly knows how the human rights system works. First, claim membership of a “protected” group. In Ontario, their Human Rights Code includes protection on the basis of “family status”, which has been interpreted by the provincial tribunal as granting privileged status to mothers with children. Ms. Howson has three children... Read more
Press Release Press Release For Immediate Release – November 23, 2011 (Ottawa, ON): Stand Up For Freedom Canada calls on all members of Parliament to support Bill C-304, “An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act”. Last night, Bill C-304 was read and debated in the House of Commons. The bill, introduced by MP Brian Storseth, seeks to ensure greater protection of free... Read more
Support Bill C-304! Use our Easy Mail Technology Today It only takes a few minutes to use this site's Easy Mail technology to send a letter to your MP, along with the Justice Minister, in support of a much-needed law to reform the Canadian Human Rights Act. It is free, customizable, and you won't get any unwanted newsletter or donation requests. We provide this for the sake of FREEDOM. Click ... Read more
Policing Hurt Feelings The various Canadian human rights codes were not necessarily designed to protect hurt feelings of designated groups. The intention was to prevent a situation in which an person  was denied basic goods and services on the basis of some prejudice or another. Yet we hear again and again from editorials critical of the rights racket that... Read more
Non-Muslims Need Not Apply The National Post recently ran a story about housing advertisements in Ontario that are clearly running afoul of the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy. Specifically, the reporter was able to find several ads in which it was stated, “non-Muslims need not apply” or some variation thereof. When the reporter called the OHRC to ask abo... Read more

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Talking Points – for meeting with elected representatives PDF Print E-mail
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Meeting with your provincial and federal elected representatives to discuss the human rights commissions is perhaps the most effective thing you can do to stand up for freedom. Here are some pointers for organizing a meeting, as well as talking points that you can use.

Setting up a meeting:
  1. Call your MP and MLA/MPP’s office to request a meeting. Click here for contact information.
  2. If possible, have a couple other friends join you. Be sure to discuss ahead of time who will be responsible for bringing of the specific concerns you have.
  3. Sometimes a more casual atmosphere (coffee shop, restaurant, etc.) is better than meeting in the representative’s office
  4. Make it clear that you want to discuss the HRC/HRT and want to know what the official will do to address the problems.

Meeting pointers:

  1. Be on time!
  2. Come with a positive and respectful attitude – thank them for their service.
  3. After explaining your concerns with the commissions and tribunals (see below for sample points and be sure to print off relevant pages from this site), ask the representative what they will pledge to do to address these problems.
  4. Ask for suggestions from your representative of what you can do to encourage changes. You are welcome to share those suggestions with us so that others can learn from your experience ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
  5. Never become angry or harsh – it will only give reason to your representative to dismiss everything you have to say.

After the meeting:

  1. Send a thank you email to your representative that includes reminders of what they promised to do.
  2. Let your friends know about your experience and encourage them to join you in your efforts by having their own meeting on the same topic.

Be sure to meet separately with both your provincial and federal representative!

Helpful Points:

  1. Our government officials can’t claim that this is not their jurisdiction. There are both provincial and federal human rights commissions and tribunals in Canada. As these are all independent, changes need to be made in every province as well as federally.
  2. There is no legal requirement for a government (federally or provincially) to have a human rights code.
  3. Other commissions, laws, and codes already exist to address genuine violations of human rights. Inciting hatred is already an offense against Section 319 of Canada’s Criminal Code. Discrimination in housing can be handled by local Residential Tenancy administrations. Discrimination in employment can be dealt with by labour relations boards.
  4. If talking with a Conservative MP, remind them that the party overwhelmingly passed a resolution at a recent policy conference that stated “The Conservative Party supports legislation to remove authority from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal to regulate, receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act."
  5. When talking with MP’s, mention Keith Martin’s Motion (M-153) that “in the opinion of the House, subsection 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act should be deleted from the Act” as an example of one MP who is speaking up about this problem.
  6. When talking with a MLA or MPP, consider pointing them to the examples of Saskatchewan and Alberta who are already working to reform their systems.

Problems with HRC’s and HRT’s:

  1. The Tribunals do not have to abide by the long-standing rules of justice that are the norm in our court system. The due process of law is ignored, evidence can be based on hear-say, and hurt feelings are enough to find someone guilty of inciting hatred. Regular legal defences of truth, fair comment, and lack of intent to harm don’t apply in the HRT’s.
  2. With this kind of criteria, it isn’t too much of a surprise that for 32 years the Canadian Human Rights Commission had a 100% conviction rate for all Section 13 cases it brought before the Tribunal. That finally ended when Section 13 was declared unconstitutional by the federal Tribunal in 2009.
  3. The HRC complaint process has itself become a favourite tool of activists to silence and bankrupt their political enemies. If a case is accepted, complainants do not have to pay any costs, even if they lose the case. On the other hand, defendants must cover all of their own legal expenses, even if they win. Simply being brought before a HRC is a significant penalty.
  4. Human Rights Commissions have actively sought complaints of borderline legitimacy in order to increase its workload. CHRC staff have also stated that they post their own online comments on anti-Semitic and racist forums to find and entrap others.
  5. The Commissions actively lobby parliament to create more civil rights that further restrict our fundamental rights. Some have even gone so far as to use their policy-making powers to “read in” new rights into the provincial human rights codes.
  6. The Commissions have more investigative powers than the police. The Commissions have no procedures or safeguards to ensure that their investigations are carried out in a proper and ethical manner.
  7. There is no complaint mechanism by which the Commission and its staff can be held to account. In the face of widespread public criticism, the Canadian HRC hand-picked their own expert and paid him $50,000 to review their practices. This back-fired when the investigator himself concluded that the censorship powers of the CHRC had to be removed. The CHRC has ignored this report and now continues its censorship unabated.

Click here to see the options (Reform, Replace, Remove)


Talking Points – for meeting with elected representatives

Setting up a meeting:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Call your MP and MLA/MPP’s office to request a meeting. Click here for contact information.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->If possible, have a couple other friends join you. Be sure to discuss ahead of time who will be responsible for bringing of the specific concerns you have.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Sometimes a more casual atmosphere (coffee shop, restaurant, etc.) is better than meeting in the representative’s office

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Make it clear that you want to discuss the HRC/HRT and want to know what the official will do to address the problems.

Meeting pointers:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Be on time!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Come with a positive and respectful attitude – thank them for their service.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->After explaining your concerns with the commissions and tribunals, ask the representative what they will pledge to do to address these problems.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Ask for suggestions from your representative of what you can do to encourage changes. You are welcome to share those suggestions with us so that others can learn from your experience ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Never become angry or harsh – it will only give reason to your representative to dismiss everything you have to say.

After the meeting:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Send a thank you email to your representative that includes reminders of what they promised to do.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Let your friends know about your experience and encourage them to join you in your efforts by having their own meeting on the same topic.

Be sure to meet separately with both your provincial and federal representative!

Helpful Points:    

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->Our government officials can’t claim that this is not their jurisdiction. There are both provincial and federal human rights commissions and tribunals in Canada. As these are all independent, changes need to be made in every province as well as federally.  

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->There is no legal requirement for a government (federally or provincially) to have a human rights code.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->Other commissions, laws, and codes already exist to address genuine violations of human rights. Inciting hatred is already an offense against Section 319 of Canada’s Criminal Code.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->If talking with a Conservative MP, remind them that the party overwhelmingly passed a resolution at a recent policy conference that stated “The Conservative Party supports legislation to remove authority from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal to regulate, receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act."

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->When talking with MP’s, mention Keith Martin’s Motion (M-153) that “in the opinion of the House, subsection 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act should be deleted from the Act” as an example of one MP who is speaking up about this problem.

Problems with HRC’s and HRT’s:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->The Tribunals do not have to abide by the long-standing rules of justice that are the norm in our court system. The due process of law is ignored, evidence can be based on hear-say, and hurt feelings are enough to find someone guilty of inciting hatred. Regular legal defences of truth, fair comment, and lack of intent to harm don’t apply in the HRC’s.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->With this kind of criteria, it isn’t too much of a surprise that for 32 years the Canadian Human Rights Commission has had a 100% conviction rate for all prosecutions. That finally ended when it was declared unconstitutional in 2009.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->The HRC complaint process has itself become a favourite tool of activists to silence and bankrupt people they don’t like. If a case is accepted, the complainant does not have to pay any of the costs, even if they lose the case. On the other hand, the defendant must cover all of their own legal expenses, even if they win. Simply being brought before a HRC is a penalty.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->Human Rights Commissions have actively sought complaints of borderline legitimacy in order to increase its workload. CHRC staff have also stated that they post their own anti-Semitic and racist comments online to find and trap others.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->The Commissions actively lobby parliament to create more civil rights that further restrict our fundamental rights. Some have even gone so far as to “read in” new right into the provincial human rights codes.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->The Commissions have more investigative powers than the police. The Commissions have no procedures or safeguards to ensure that their investigations are carried out in a proper and ethical manner.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·       <!--[endif]-->There is no complaint mechanism by which the Commission and its staff can be held to account. In the face of widespread public criticism, the Canadian HRC hand-picked their own expert and paid him $50,000 to review their practices. This back-fired when the investigator himself concluded that the censorship powers of the CHRC had to be removed. The CHRC has ignored this and continues its censorship unabated.

Options – Reform, Replace, Remove

Reform:

Make amendments to the parts of the provincial and federal human rights codes that have most severely infringed upon our fundamental freedoms. First and foremost would be the removal of the infamous Section 13 from the federal code and similar sections in the provincial codes which target anything that "is likely" to cause hatred and contempt, regardless of whether it actually does. [Click here for advantages and disadvantages]

Replace:

Minor changes aren’t enough when the entire structure is corrupt.  What is needed is the abolishment of the HRC's and the creation of new commissions (provincially and federally) that are much more limited in scope and accountable to traditional standards of justice. [Click here for advantages and disadvantages]

Remove:

"As long as the commissions exist, even in skeletal form, the temptation to rebuild them as agencies of social control will remain and will almost certainly be too much for some government to resist." Nigel Hanniford, FCPP Policy Series No. 45. Other commissions, laws, and codes already exist to address genuine violations of human rights. The HRC's and HRT's are unnecessary in today’s society and should be done away with.  Crimes committed against Human Rights can be brought before a judge in a real court. [Click here for advantages and disadvantages]

Stand up for Freedom Canada encourages the complete removal of Canada's human rights commissions and tribunals, though we are willing to support incremental measures toward this end. As such we support Motion 153 in Canada's Parliament which recommends the repeal of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Code. But we urge our legislators to go beyond this if they truly value the protection of our fundamental freedoms
 
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