Tag Archives: Kangaroo Courts

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Mark Steyn discusses pastor Stephen Boissoin’s victory against the HRCs

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Story on the Corner. (H/T ECM, Blazing Cat Fur)

Excerpt:

A couple of years back, the Reverend Stephen Boissoin committed the crime of writing a letter to a local newspaper objecting to various aspects of “the homosexual agenda”. The Alberta “Human Rights” Tribunal convicted him of this crime and imposed a lifetime speech ban preventing him, in essence, from saying anything about homosexuality in public or private ever again anywhere for the rest of his life.

Here’s an except from the judge’s decision:

The direction to cease and desist the publishing of “disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals’ is beyond the power of the Panel. “Disparaging remarks”were not defined by the Panel. But clearly, “disparaging remarks” are remarks much less serious than hateful and contemptuous remarks and are quite lawful to make. They are beyond the power of the Act to regulate and the power of the Province to restrain.

More details here:

The thing is – Boissoin did not get off Scot-free. He had a gruelling 6-year trial and paid well over six figures in legal fees. It’s not clear to me what his remedy is to recover these years of his life and these funds. His accuser’s legal costs were covered by the province of Alberta.

I just don’t believe that things will turn out any different down here, given the kind of people that Obama surrounds himself with. Obama has signed a hate crime bill into law which paves the way for criminalizing speech critical of the minorities listed in the bill. And whenever the right to free speech conflicts with the leftist right “not to be offended”, the “right not to be offended” always wins. This is the way that the secular left is – they want to silence anyone who disagrees with them.

I don’t mind when people say things that offend me, and I sure hope that nothing I say offends anyone else. But in any case, I would rather be asked to apologize than be put on trial for 6 years and forced to pay over a $100,000 in legal fees just because I disagreed with someone and they felt badly. We need to get to the point where radicals on the left understand that it is OK for people to disagree with them, and that it is not OK to bring the force of the government down on people because of speech.

Next time, vote Republican.

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Video of Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn testifying against Canadian HRCs

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Videos from Blazing Cat Fur, provided by SDAMatt!

Watch the first one, and you’ll be hooked! They’re awesome.

Part 1: (Ezra goes first, takes 8 minutes, then Mark Steyn starts)

Part 2: (The rest of Mark Steyn’s testimony, 8 minutes, and then questioning starts)

The first questioner at the end of part 2 is a leftist Liberal party MP. He is extremely hostile! So it starts out very hot right away!

The remainder of the testimony is question and answer by the committee.

Awesome!

Blazing Cat Fur has a plan

Blazing Cat Fur has a round-up of reactions from around the blogosphere. Here’s someone who live-blogged it.

And he has a plan, too. Read this post and submit your questions for the Chief Fascist, Jennifer Lynch.

Excerpt:

Jay Curry has got the ball rolling. We are proposing to forward a list of reader submitted questions you would like to see the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights hearing on Section 13 (1) ask Jennifer Lynch during her scheduled appearance.

We hope to do this formally with say a top ten list of reader questions e-mailed to each committee member but I also recommend you e-mail the committee members individually.

As Flea suggests you should make your questions short and sweet and back them up with publicly available evidence. You may submit your questions at the blog of your choice, or e-mail me – blazingcatfur@gmail.com if you wish. Thank you.

Previous posts

And here are some links to audio and video featuring Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant. (in reverse chronological order)

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Podcasts

Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant on Milt Rosenberg’s Extension 720 radio show!

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UPDATE: Welcome visitors from Free Canuckistan! Thanks for the link, Binks!

Here is the commercial-free MP3 recording. We Americans need to understand what leftist ideologues do to free speech rights in other countries. It’s going to look a lot like what’s been done by the left in Canada, Europe and in leftist-dominated university campuses the world over. You must listen to this podcast! You will not find a better resource about the leftist threat to our liberties!

Already, we are seeing the Democrats take action to pass “Hate Crime” laws that punish free speech that might offend their favored constituencies! As Trent Franks notes, religious Christians are the likely targets of such laws. Our civil liberties are being threatened, and we need to start learning by studying the defenders of free speech, such as Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant.

What I like best about Ezra Levant

Ezra Levant is Jewish, but he is the best friend that Christians ever had in Canada. One of the victims of the virulently anti-Christian Human Rights Commissions was a penniless pastor by the name of Stephen Boissoin. Boissoin wrote an essay in which he expressed his opinions on gay activism. The case is described by Levant in the audio linked above.

But the main thing is that I have been watching with awe at how this good Jewish man Ezra Levant, who has his own 6-figure legal bill to worry about, has tirelessly supported this Christian pastor’s right to free speech. He not only re-published Boissoin’s letter on his own blog several times, but he has also organized fundraisers to raise funds for Boissoin’s appeal.

Calgary, Thursday, April 30

This one (and the next two) are very special events. They’re dinners to help a victim of Alberta’s human rights commission — Rev. Stephen Boissoin. As readers will recall, because he expressed his religious views on gay marriage, Rev. Boissoin was punished with a six-year government prosecution, and then an outrageous order — punitive fines, a lifetime ban on expressing his views in public or in private, and an abominable order to publicly renounce his religious views. Seriously — you can read the details here. Tickets are $100, with proceeds going to pay for Rev. Boissoin’s appeal. For more info, and to register, click here.

Red Deer, Friday, May 1

Second fundraising dinner for Rev. Stephen Boissoin’s legal defence, 6 p.m. Details here.

Edmonton, Saturday, May 2

Third and final fundraising dinner for Rev. Stephen Boissoin’s legal defence, 6 p.m. Details here.

Ezra Levant is without a doubt the most heroic person in Canada! That is another reason to listen to the podcast. Levant and Steyn are two good men of courage and directness. This is the podcast equivalent of “Gladiator” and “300”. These are courageous, forceful men who have been given a difficult task. They are direct and passionate. PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PODCAST!!!

My previous posts on free speech in Canada

The Conservative Party takes up free speech in British Columbia

The Conservative Party takes up free speech in Ontario

Video of Ezra Levant discussing free speech on the Michael Coren show

Video interview with Ezra Levant by the libertarian Fraser Institute

Impact of the Human Rights Commissions on commerce in Canada