Harper government wimps out in free speech fight

[Soulforger]

It's one thing for Harper to make strategic decisions, but entirely another to allow a serious and escalating assault on freedom of speech to go unchallenged, and even mildly supported as far as anyone can determine, by his government.

I can't stand watching how Canada is changing into a far more intrusive style of Government.

[Faramir]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

[Dogpatch]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

So why doesn't Iggy bring it up? After all, he wrote a book or two about freedom of speech and when he worked at the BBC, he brought it up a lot.

Here's what Iggy said:

Collective rights without individual ones end up in tyranny. Moreover, rights inflation—the tendency to define anything desirable as a right—ends up eroding the legitimacy of a defensible core of rights . . . The right to freedom of speech is not, as the Marxist tradition maintained, a lapidary bourgeois luxury, but the precondition for having any other rights at all.

Crickets chirping

[TomFoolery]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

So why doesn't Iggy bring it up? After all, he wrote a book or two about freedom of speech and when he worked at the BBC, he brought it up a lot.

Here's what Iggy said:

Collective rights without individual ones end up in tyranny. Moreover, rights inflation—the tendency to define anything desirable as a right—ends up eroding the legitimacy of a defensible core of rights . . . The right to freedom of speech is not, as the Marxist tradition maintained, a lapidary bourgeois luxury, but the precondition for having any other rights at all.

Crickets chirping

Its comments like that upon which I would have seriously considered voting for Ignatieff.

The party has already corrupted him.

[Soulforger]

Well they all seem to be in a bubble. So obviously they feel they have enough spin to ride this out. Foolish...

[Maikeru]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

MP (L) Keith Martin's bill was a perfect opportunity for the Loyal Opposition to act with vigour and force a minority Government to rescind Section 13.

Unfortunately he's a good man in a rotten party whose views on so called 'hate speech' is controlled by the likes of Udjal Dosanjh who, as a member of BC's Provincial NDP. was Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration, Attorney General, and Intervenor in the successful BCHRT persecution of Doug Collins back in 1999, for 4 columns <a href=http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/ftp.py?people/c/collins.doug/abrams-vrs-collins.judgment> Collins penned</a> in the North Shore News between Jan and July 1994.

Collins and the NSN were forced to jointly pay Harry Abrams $2000 for 'the injury they caused to his dignity and self respect' as a member of the Jewish community in BC.
The recent BCHRT decision - under a 'Liberal' provincial government - to force Guy Earle and Zesty's owner to jointly pay $22,500 to Lorna Purdy for 'the injury they caused to her dignity and self respect', during a one-night club brawl, is a measure of how much more dignity and self-respect homosexuals have than straight Jews in BC.

That the ten-fold increase in amount 'fined' was for an incident of short duration - essentially 'one night stand' - also reflects a growing contempt for 'free expression' by 'human rights' bureaucracy.

What hasn't changed is the morbidly extended period between launch of 'hate speech' Complaint, and Decision.
Only the Air India fiasco makes BCHRT wetwork seem 'swift' (although it remains to be seen if Earle goes to the SCC, and whether he is young enough to last the distance, unlike Collins)

It also reflects that where it took 2 back to back BCHRT 'hate speech' persecutions of Doug Collins (the second of which he refused to testify) for columns which:

Individually, and taken out of context, each of the
four columns at issue might not convey messages that meet
the high threshold that is necessary to be considered hatred
or contempt within the meaning of s. 7(1)(b) of the Code.
However, collectively they do.

Udjal Dosanjh moved on to Federal politics as a Liberal, from Provincial politics as a Dipper, after becoming Premier of BC from early 2000 until the provincial election in mid 2001 saw the NDP reduced to 2 seats out of 79, neither of which was Udjals'.

Considering that the heavy hitters who championed the rise of 'human rights hate speech' persecutions, Dosanjh, Rock, Cotler, et al, all belong to the same band of mothers, it's a wonder that Martin had the audacity to go against the grain of the party.

It also explains why CPC Government members of the <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALJGBMR6_io>Parliamentary Subcommittee Hearings</a> seemed keen to prompt Levant and Steyn, whereas 'Loyal Opposition' member Dosanjh treated them like reform-school escapees.

[shiva]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

So why doesn't Iggy bring it up? After all, he wrote a book or two about freedom of speech and when he worked at the BBC, he brought it up a lot.

Here's what Iggy said:

Collective rights without individual ones end up in tyranny. Moreover, rights inflation—the tendency to define anything desirable as a right—ends up eroding the legitimacy of a defensible core of rights . . . The right to freedom of speech is not, as the Marxist tradition maintained, a lapidary bourgeois luxury, but the precondition for having any other rights at all.

Crickets chirping

Its comments like that upon which I would have seriously considered voting for Ignatieff.

The party has already corrupted him.

The fool allowed himself to be corrupted. As you note, from his writings, Iggy would have once been properly described as a classical Liberal before he ascended to the throne of the LPC, which has been drifting more and more leftward for many years.

At first, I feared he might pull them back and then we would have stiff competition from the LPC but instead, he leaned left in order to appease the lunatic base of the party. The results of his deception are clear to see in the polls.

While we may think voters are not always well informed (and I certainly do) they seem to have an uncanny ability to know when someone isn't being true to themselves. Phony as a two dollar bill.

Yes, I know I said 2 dollar bill because they don't make them like that anymore even though they used to exist - kind of like Iggy as a classical liberal. Don't be fooled.

[Faramir]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

MP (L) Keith Martin's bill was a perfect opportunity for the Loyal Opposition to act with vigour and force a minority Government to rescind Section 13.

Unfortunately he's a good man in a rotten party whose views on so called 'hate speech' is controlled by the likes of Udjal Dosanjh who, as a member of BC's Provincial NDP. was Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration, Attorney General, and Intervenor in the successful BCHRT persecution of Doug Collins back in 1999, for 4 columns <a href=http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/ftp.py?people/c/collins.doug/abrams-vrs-collins.judgment> Collins penned</a> in the North Shore News between Jan and July 1994.

Collins and the NSN were forced to jointly pay Harry Abrams $2000 for 'the injury they caused to his dignity and self respect' as a member of the Jewish community in BC.
The recent BCHRT decision - under a 'Liberal' provincial government - to force Guy Earle and Zesty's owner to jointly pay $22,500 to Lorna Purdy for 'the injury they caused to her dignity and self respect', during a one-night club brawl, is a measure of how much more dignity and self-respect homosexuals have than straight Jews in BC.

That the ten-fold increase in amount 'fined' was for an incident of short duration - essentially 'one night stand' - also reflects a growing contempt for 'free expression' by 'human rights' bureaucracy.

What hasn't changed is the morbidly extended period between launch of 'hate speech' Complaint, and Decision.
Only the Air India fiasco makes BCHRT wetwork seem 'swift' (although it remains to be seen if Earle goes to the SCC, and whether he is young enough to last the distance, unlike Collins)

It also reflects that where it took 2 back to back BCHRT 'hate speech' persecutions of Doug Collins (the second of which he refused to testify) for columns which:

Individually, and taken out of context, each of the
four columns at issue might not convey messages that meet
the high threshold that is necessary to be considered hatred
or contempt within the meaning of s. 7(1)(b) of the Code.
However, collectively they do.

Udjal Dosanjh moved on to Federal politics as a Liberal, from Provincial politics as a Dipper, after becoming Premier of BC from early 2000 until the provincial election in mid 2001 saw the NDP reduced to 2 seats out of 79, neither of which was Udjals'.

Considering that the heavy hitters who championed the rise of 'human rights hate speech' persecutions, Dosanjh, Rock, Cotler, et al, all belong to the same band of mothers, it's a wonder that Martin had the audacity to go against the grain of the party.

It also explains why CPC Government members of the <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALJGBMR6_io>Parliamentary Subcommittee Hearings</a> seemed keen to prompt Levant and Steyn, whereas 'Loyal Opposition' member Dosanjh treated them like reform-school escapees.

Dosanjh is truly a low life - although I had no idea he intervened against freedom of speech. I recall in those hearings that he said he disagreed with Steyn as in Dosanjh actually believes people should be jailed for saying the wrong things. To think this tripe was our Premier!

[Soulforger]

So really no one is standing up for free speech that can actually do anything about it.

[Angleland]

So why didn't Harper champion Keith Martin's Section 13 private members bill?

Good question.

So why doesn't Iggy bring it up? After all, he wrote a book or two about freedom of speech and when he worked at the BBC, he brought it up a lot.

Here's what Iggy said:

Collective rights without individual ones end up in tyranny. Moreover, rights inflation—the tendency to define anything desirable as a right—ends up eroding the legitimacy of a defensible core of rights . . . The right to freedom of speech is not, as the Marxist tradition maintained, a lapidary bourgeois luxury, but the precondition for having any other rights at all.

Crickets chirping

Ignatief was told he could cause some mayhem among conservatives by hammering at this issue. I don't think he could have won the election but he might have survived as OLO in another CPC mInority HOC. Sadly for him, he stubbornly kept the Liberal Train racing down the same track towards obliteration.

[BlawBlaw]

Wasn't Martin a Conservative who crossed the floor? If so, what prompted him to do so?

[styky]

Wasn't Martin a Conservative who crossed the floor? If so, what prompted him to do so?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdngo ... ssing.html

In January 2004, Keith Martin, who once ran for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, announced he would sit as an Independent. He won his B.C. seat in the 2004 election as a Liberal.

Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives joining had him make his exit

[styky]

In case anyone forgets how the party mergers all went down here's a refresher http://www.mapleleafweb.com/old/feature ... ition.html

[BlawBlaw]

Wasn't Martin a Conservative who crossed the floor? If so, what prompted him to do so?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdngo ... ssing.html

In January 2004, Keith Martin, who once ran for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, announced he would sit as an Independent. He won his B.C. seat in the 2004 election as a Liberal.

Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives joining had him make his exit

It appears that he was with Reform because he is a fiscal conservative but his social liberal leanings convinced him to go Liberal. And yet he was willing to take a shot at s.13.

[Faramir]

It took 4 decades for the Liberal Party to become corrupted and sell out our free nation to political correctness and big brother statism. Harper managed to take the Reform principles and do the same in 10 years. I feel a darkness descending on Canada. I am more scared for Canada under the CPC than I ever was under the Liberal Party.

The only bright lights are the emergence of Sun News and Brad Wall's committment to end the kangaroo courts in his province.