Tag Archives: Saskatchewan

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

Canadian court rules that Christians MUST perform same-sex marriages

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Story from LifeSiteNews.

Excerpt:

Nichols, who served as a marriage commissioner from 1983 after retiring from a 25-year career in the police force, was approached by the complainant, only identified as M.J., in April 2005 to conduct the ceremony.  Nichols informed M.J. that he was available, but when he realized that M.J.’s partner, B.R., was a man, he told them that he could not “marry” them based on his religious beliefs.

[…]Nichols had himself complained to the human rights tribunal in February 2005 after he had been informed in November 2004 by the Saskatchewan Department of Justice that commissioners would be required to conduct same-sex ceremonies after the law changed to allow them.  That case was later dismissed, in March 2006.

He was fined $2,500 by the tribunal in June 2008, which decided that as an official of the government, Nichols was not entitled to have his religious beliefs accommodated.

Nichols appealed that decision to the Court of Queen’s Bench, contending that his right to religious freedom should have been protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But Justice Janet McMurtry upheld the tribunal’s decision.

Nichols’ religious views are not relevant in how he conducts his job, according to the judge in her 36-page decision.  “In that capacity [as marriage commissioner], his personal religious beliefs do not matter,” she wrote.

So much for the right to religious liberty. What this decision says is that government’s values supercede the values of individual citizens – even if it violates the fundamental right to religious liberty.