The Canadian Human Rights Act is very bad law. There is no excuse for a law that allows the prosecution of a citizen for having caused imaginary harm to imaginary people. There is no excuse for a law that allows the prosecution of a citizen for having offended another person. No Bill of Rights, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or Human Rights legislation anywhere else in the world provides a person, let alone groups and persons unnamed, with protection from feeling offended.
The freedoms of the chosen groups supported by the CHRC are having their freedoms undermined by the sponsors they hold so dear.
When the freedoms of a citizen are overridden to assuage the hurt feelings of a visible minority, we all lose. Down the road, a person facing discrimination will have no recourse as the fundamental freedom he or she should enjoy has been subverted to the power of the group.
The HRCs are undermining a very important fundamental human right which is the right to equality before and under the law. The HRTs have made it very clear that membership in a visible minority group trumps the rights and freedoms of the individual. If HRC/HRTs are allowed to continue unchecked, individual freedoms and rights will disappear and be replaced by a competition amongst groups of individuals for power over our society.
If we consider the Charter in our constitution to be the benevolent Dr. Jekyll there is no question that the HRC/HRTs are the evil Mr. Hyde. We need to exorcise those sections of the CHRC that allow Mr. Hyde to exist.
The CHRC fails to protect the ultimate minority - the individual, and is thus a fraud.
REQUIRED REVISIONS
The purpose of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) is clearly set out in the Act:
- The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted.
There is no provision in this purpose, nor should there be, for the protection of groups of any sort, and there is no provision in this purpose for protecting people from contempt. The person whose actions or behaviour invited contempt and derision may seek to claim discrimination, but is standing on quicksand and is unworthy of protection.
Groups of individuals cannot be protected under human rights legislation. Human rights, along with our fundamental charter rights and freedoms, rest with the individual. Human Rights Commissions have adopted the approach that someone claiming discrimination is correct if he or she is a member of a visible minority and in effect requiring that an accused prove his or her innocence.
Canadian Human Rights Tribunals operate with no consistent rules of order or rules respecting evidence. It is very difficult if not impossible for an accused to properly defend himself when he cannot know what evidence may and may not be presented and cannot establish the rules of procedure. Despite having an alleged thorough investigation by the CHRC, Tribunals routinely refuse to provide an accused with disclosure of evidence held against him, choosing instead to develop evidence during the hearing. While it may make for good theatre, it results in failed attempts at justice.
Members of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal are not required to be apolitical or to recuse themselves when they have a conflict of interest. There is nothing in the Canadian Human Rights Act that requires Tribunal members to be impartial in their hearing and decision on a case. There is nothing that required a member of the Tribunal to recuse themselves from a case in which they have a direct interest. These are serious breaches of the fundamental principles of justice, and must be addressed.
At a minimum, the Canadian Human Rights Act requires the following amendments:
- 1. A requirement that Canadian Human Rights Tribunal members be politically neutral and recuse themselves when they face a conflict of interest;
2. Removal of any and all references to groups and groups of people;
3. A requirement that an investigation or inquiry cannot proceed without the authorization of an injured party when the complainant is not an injured party;
4. Removal of the provision for the CHRC to undertake an investigation or inquiry when there is no complaint;
5. Removal of the provision for an investigation or inquiry when no particular individual is identifiable as a victim;
6. A requirement for the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to publish its rules of evidence and rules of order for a hearing; and
7. Strike sections 12 and 13 from the CHRA – hate crimes including publications are already covered by the Criminal Code and the duplication is gratuitous and dangerous in a free democracy.
If someone was charged under the Criminal Code hate crimes provisions and the case was then turned over to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a hearing and decision, the protest would reverberate in the media for months. That should tell legislators that they cannot continue to ignore the monstrosity they have created.
IF YOU LOVE YOUR LIBERTY AND FREEDOMS, JOIN US IN THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE THEM
If you believe in judicial impartiality, the principles of fundamental justice and in our equality before and under the law, please support the appeal of this decision by visiting freedominion.ca or drop a cheque or money order to:
Connie Fournier
2000 Unity Road
Elginburg, ON
K0H 1M0
