Tag Archives: Censorship

Commentary

Saskatchewan planning to abolish its Human Rights Tribunal

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Political Map of Canada

Wow. I am speechless over this good news.

The Saskatchewan Leader-Post reports on the conservative Saskatchewan Party’s plan to introduce a bill to abolish the Human Rights Tribunal and replace it with non-kangaroo courts. (H/T Small Dead Animals via ECM)

Excerpt:

The provincial government plans to introduce human rights legislation that will dissolve the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal in favour of having a court hear the complaints.

Justice Minister Don Morgan said the change, among other reforms to the Human Rights Code, is being undertaken at the suggestion of Judge David Arnot, chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. The commission is the body that receives human rights complaints and occasionally refers a matter to a tribunal for a hearing.

“There seemed to be a lot of support for going forward with it so we felt it was an appropriate piece of legislation to bring at this time,” said Morgan, whose Sask. Party government signalled its intent in the throne speech to move forward with changes, which were first discussed in the spring.

“It will allow for a more streamlined process, more mediation and more expedited handling of files. But the most significant thing is it will no longer be the human rights tribunal. The complaints, when they’re referred on, will go directly to the Court of Queen’s Bench,” Morgan said.

The only problem with Saskatchewan now is that it’s really cold there, and Kate McMillan’s beloved Roughriders aren’t doing too well right now.

UPDATE: Here is a quick introduction to the Human Rights Commissions and Human Rights Tribunals.

That’s Ezra Levant, a Jewish conservative who is the King of free speech in Canada.

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News

In Canada, Blazing Cat Fur is being sued for linking to Mark Steyn

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Wow. Things are worse than I thought up north.

Read the whole thing. (H/T The Other McCain)

This is another of those Human Rights Commission trials I am always telling you guys about. There is no free speech in Canada. Everything you say, no matter how innocent, can land you in a courtroom. The only thing that is necessary is for someone to feel offended by what you said. No damage is needed, just that someone feels offended. Then you go to court, and the government pays for all the court costs of the plaintiff. You have to pay your own costs, of course, and the trials go on for years – much like the waiting list for a hip replacement surgery in Ontario.

News

Obama has appointed a record number of gay officials

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Fox News reports on Obama’s decision to appoint a record number of gay officials.

Excerpt:

Less than halfway through his first term, President Barack Obama has appointed more openly gay officials than any other president in history.

Gay activists say the estimate of more than 150 appointments so far — from agency heads and commission members to policy officials and senior staffers — surpasses the previous high of about 140 reached during two full terms under President Bill Clinton.

[…]Gay activists, among Obama’s strongest supporters, had hoped he would be the first to appoint an openly gay Cabinet secretary. While that hasn’t happened — yet — Obama did appoint the highest-ranking gay official ever when he named John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the nation’s 1.9 million federal workers.

Other prominent names include Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Fred Hochberg, chairman of the Export-Import Bank. Obama also named Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender appointee, as a senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department.

[…]One Obama nominee who met some opposition was Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University law professor nominated to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Concerned Women for America accused Feldblum of playing “a major role in pushing the homosexual and transsexual agenda on Americans.” Other conservative groups blasted her role in drafting the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a bill that would ban employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Obama is a strong supporter of that legislation.

Obama made Feldblum a recess appointment in March after an anonymous hold in the Senate held up her confirmation for months.

Another target for conservatives was Kevin Jennings, founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, who was named to oversee the Education Department’s Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools. More than 50 House Republicans asked Obama to remove Jennings from the post after reports surfaced about advice he gave more than 20 years earlier after learning a gay student had sex with an older man.

Jennings conceded that he should have consulted medical or legal authorities instead of telling the 15-year-old boy that he hoped he had used a condom. The Obama administration defended Jennings and declined to remove him.

Comments to this post will be strictly filtered in accordance with Obama’s policies on acceptable speech.