RSS FeedHateful Publications in B.C.
It’s true, we’ve heard this before. The Missing Sockpuppet compares the case of Abrams v. North Shore Press at a B.C. human rights tribunal to the complaint against Maclean’s.
The similarities are uncanny.
So why wasn’t there a campaign to end human rights commissions back in 1996? That’s right, there was – but it was all neo-Nazis and their sympathizers.
What’s perhaps most interesting is that the published articles in question, found at the end of the case, are less inflammatory than the contents in question from Maclean’s.
The Missing Sockpuppet has done an entire series on this subject.
So why the double standard? Some Canadians apparantly have less rights today in contemporary society than others, what the Missing Sockpuppet calls the turban effect.
But all the more reason for human rights tribunals to step in to create a more level playing field.
Update on Maclean’s
Two Human Rights Commissions (Federal, Ontario) have refused to hear the Maclean’s case, but both have also indicated the content was at least worthy of scrutiny.
The process has instigated further discussion on the balance between freedom of expression and protection of minorities, and we’re pleased to be one of the few balanced and informed voices on the subject.
Our position was perhaps best summarized recently by human rights lawyer, Pearl Eliadas,
So what are these journalists complaining about? That someone has filed a complaint.
Complaints are filed all the time. Some succeed. Most don’t. That is how the system works. Commissions dismiss more than 90 per cent of what comes through their doors, long before the matter ever reaches a hearing, and have no control over who files a complaint. The journalists are really suggesting that they should be above the law and that freedom of speech should insulate them completely.
What recent developments have demonstrated is that a balancing process has always been in place, and that Human Rights Commissions are not the arbitrary “kangaroo courts” they have been depicted as. There never was any new looming threat to freedom of speech, simply a reapplication of previous cases to a newer situation.
In the interests of keeping this site moving forward, we’re taking down our dedicated page on the subject, but maintaining it here based on the date it was last updated.
But we also came across this interestingly named site, Missing Sockpuppet, that could provide an alternative voice to a blogosphere that has increasingly been dominated by voices from the far-right.
Their sole post (for now, we hope) has an extremely well-written post on the turban effect, a bias that exists in people without even their own knowledge.
The first reprisal killing following Sept. 11, 2001 was towards a Sikh in Arizona.
This reinforces two things for us:
- People who hate usually know very little and have a poor understanding of the things they hate
- Issues of racism always affect a larger demographic than any group initially targeted
Human Rights Commissions do play an important role in this respect, and are not going anywhere.
But defining their role in Canada, and the threshold when in conflict with other very important rights such as political expression, is something we will always continue to explore.
