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