In 2003, The Economist declared that a “cautious case can be made that Canada is now rather cool.” The freedom-loving publication was impressed with the country’s support for gay marriage and marijuana decriminalization, which it felt were “both excellent liberal ideas.”
Five years later, The Economist is probably eating its own words – thanks to Canada’s astonishing rejection of a truly excellent liberal idea, freedom of speech.
There have recently been some high profile anti-free speech cases involving journalists. For instance, two Muslim organizations issued complaints against Ezra Levant for publishing the controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in his now-defunct publication, The Western Standard. And the Canadian Islamic Congress issued a complaint against Mark Steyn and Maclean’s after the magazine reprinted a passage of Steyn’s book, America Alone.
[Full disclosure: I know Levant quite well, and have had some communication with Steyn.]
The complaints against Levant and Steyn weren’t heard in a court of law. Rather, they were both forced to appear before a human rights commission. Originally established to handle complaints like racial discrimination in rental housing and employment, today’s commissions are nothing more than kangaroo courts that have been hijacked by the political left. They are often used to punish political enemies and soothe the hurt feelings of their like-minded ilk.
And who have these commissions almost always ruled in favor of? Take a wild guess.
To his credit, Alan Borovoy, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, wrote in the Calgary Herald in March 2006 that “during the years when my colleagues and I were labouring to create such commissions, we never imagined that they might ultimately be used against freedom of speech.”
In particular, he noted “there should be no question of the right to publish the cartoons in question. Religious prophets no less than political leaders or even deities must be legally permissible targets of satire or even scorn. This is the essence of free speech in a democracy.”
Even so, the tide didn’t turn until Levant wisely taped his hearing before the Alberta Human Rights Commission and posted some rather revealing clips on YouTube. The clips demonstrated not only the flaws in the complaint filed by Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, but also in the very existence of human rights commissions and the behavior of its representatives.
After extensive pro-Levant media coverage from the CBC to Glenn Beck, Soharwardy decided to drop the matter. The Edmonton Muslim Council‘s complaint is still active, however.
Not surprisingly, the Ontario Human Rights Commission opted against hearing the complaint filed against Steyn and Maclean’s. Yet that didn’t stop the commission from issuing a statement this month declaring “this type of media coverage has been identified as contributing to Islamophobia and promoting societal intolerance towards Muslim, Arab and South Asian Canadians.” And the commission noted it should always be possible “to challenge any institution that contributes to the dissemination of destructive, xenophobic opinions.”
What nonsense. But as someone who believes in freedom of speech, I firmly support their right to make these ludicrous comments.
In a free and democratic country, we all have the right to like or hate something or someone. You cannot force people to like one another, and you certainly can’t force them to stop hating one another.
And if you truly believe in free speech, you have to support views that appear valid as well as tolerate views that appear wrong. It doesn’t mean that you necessarily agree with an opposing viewpoint, but a person’s right to support a position in a non-violent manner must be defended.
The U.S. understands the need to support free speech for all individuals, and has courageously defended this fundamental right time and time again.
My country is only finally starting to wake up to this fact – and that’s just not cool.
Michael Taube is a former speechwriter for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He can be reached at [email protected].
