Today’s Lynch List

Alright, here we go.

First off, the voting for the Infidel Blogger Awards is going to be coming to an end tomorrow, so cast your ballot before it’s too late. Also noted by Five Feet of Fury.

Second, via Global BC: B.C. discriminates against disabled hunters: tribunal:

By Gerry Bellet

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Environment Ministry discriminates against handicapped hunters by not allowing them to have a designated “hunting companion” with them in their vehicles, the BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled Monday.

The ruling followed a complaint by Larry Hall, who has been hunting for 55 years. Hall has Guillian-Barre Syndrome, a disease that causes nerve damage, leaving him able to walk only short distances.

The southern B.C. hunter filed his first complaint in November 2004, and another in 2007 on behalf of the Canadian Outdoor Disabled Alliance.

Hall — one of the 100 or so hunters who is eligible for the disabled hunter special access permit — said the regulation discriminated against disabled hunters because it does not allow them to bring companions along in their vehicles to track and kill wounded animals.

Disabled hunters are only allowed to carry “non-hunting” companions in their vehicles and these people were not permitted to kill wounded animals. A non-hunting companion could only be used to retrieve killed game.

Hall said the regulation put him in a “Catch-22″ in that if he shoots an animal, but due to his disability he’s unable to kill it, he contravenes section 35 of the Wildlife Act.

In a complex 75-page decision, tribunal member Judy Parrack found the ministry had contravened the Human Rights Code by failing to consider fully “the impact that the absence of a hunting companion would have on Mr. Hall and when it failed to take reasonable steps to accommodate Mr. Hall and other disabled hunters in the Kootenay Region.”

Read it here. H/t to a very mean Blazing Cat Fur.

Third, Binks does what he does so well, with another heaping helping of links Steynian, Levantian, and Freespeechian over at Free Canuckistan. His latest offering: Steynian 398.

Fourth, the Soconvivium blog has provided a nice collection of HRC-related stories that have been run by The Interim in the past. Check it out here.

Fifth, the Views From The Lake – Eh? blog writes about the Human Rights Case over, apparently, disproportional welfare spending for Aboriginal children, courtesy of the Tories: An unprincipled stand on Jordan’s Principle.

Finally, apparently I’m newsworthy; old friends of Barbara Hall; you’re not alone; and I think we’ve found the new head of the CHRC.

Today’s ( short ) Lynch List

There’s not a huge amount to talk about today, but there are a couple of items.

First off, at his blog Ezra Levant talks about his next speaking engagement about Shakedown, which he will be conducting this coming Wednesday for the Vancouver Jewish Book Festival. Read all about it here.

Second, a little more commentary on the CHRT case over federal funding for Aboriginal child welfare from the Toronto Star: Opinion: Shortage of funds, surplus of suffering.

Third, from the Ottawa Citizen: Diabetic fights CIDA for Afghanistan posting:

By Hugh Adami

Bronwyn Cruden’s bitter battle to win back a foreign-aid posting in Afghanistan — which she lost because her type 1 diabetes was deemed a risk — probably won’t garner massive public support.

But her fighting spirit and persistence are remarkable, and clearly say something about the woman’s ability to tackle adversity. Two medical specialists have written that she has the stamina for the posting. They say her diabetes poses little risk to her, even in a war zone.

[...]

As well, Cruden, 38, is determined to have a child before she turns 40, so her window to get to Afghanistan is almost shut. Last fall, she filed discrimination complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, against CIDA and Health Canada. She is still waiting to hear from the commission. CIDA officials would not comment.

Read it all here.

Finally, students at the altar.

Why I’m no longer writing for the Cowichan Valley Citizen

Or: my newspaper caved to Richard Warman and all I got was this lousy headache, part two. The next instalment is available over at the Blog of Walker. Apologies for the lack of other updates. My blogging energy has kind of been sapped with my latest efforts. That, plus most of the latest HRC-related news has to do with me, and I’m not going to do round-ups of that coverage here, because let’s face it: that’s just kind of vain.

My newspaper caved in to Richard Warman and all I got was this lousy headache

Over at my personal blog, the Blog of Walker, I talk all about why the Cowichan Valley Citizen is no longer running my articles, thanks to our old friend Richard Warman. Or at least, I start the conversation – there will be follow-up posts with much more of my reasoning. This? This is just the preliminary stuff. Read it if you will.

Today’s Lynch List

Alright, here we go.

First off, via the National Post: From the government, a new racist stereotype:

Earlier this month, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) awarded $5,000 to a black female newspaper carrier who insisted she had been arrested by police in early 2007 only because of her skin colour.

Early one morning, Sharon Abbott was delivering newspapers to homes in Toronto’s west end. Police Sergeant Stephen Ruffino observed her car double-parked outside an apartment. Then he saw her re-enter the vehicle, turn left without signalling, drive without a seatbelt and swerve from side to side. When she got out again, Sgt. Ruffino tried to stop Ms. Abbott and give her a warning, but she failed to stop and identify herself several times. So he briefly scuffled with her, handcuffed her and detained her for 45 minutes.

Although the HRTO found no “conscious” racism on Sgt. Ruffino’s part, it nonetheless concluded his actions were motivated by a deep-seated prejudice … of which he was apparently entirely unaware.

Read the rest here. H/t to Blazing Cat Fur.

Second, a bit of a grab bag. Voting is still open for the Infidel Blogger Awards, while in the meantime, my colleague Scary Fundamentalist joins the rest of us in shameless self-promotion… 

Meanwhile, Gaynz.com provides a little more coverage of Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo’s private member’s bill to include gender identity within the province’s anti-discrimination laws.

Third, Kathy Shaidle writes, for The Interim: HRC industry is becoming ever more irrelevant:

The bizarre saga of Canada’s censorious human rights commissions took another freakish turn in September, when one of its own suddenly declared the very system that employed him “unconstitutional.”

Even longtime HRC critic (and victim-turned-victor) Ezra Levant was taken aback. As Levant put it at his blog when the news broke: “Two years ago, Athanasios Hadjis was a human rights hack, sitting on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal full of other hacks. He mindlessly rubber-stamped the censorship litigation oozing from the Canadian Human Rights Commission” and issued lifetime publications bans against hapless “thought criminals” for posting politically incorrect comments on obscure websites.

Yet that day, Levant reported, “Hadjis issued a 40,000-word ruling” in the “hate speech” case of Warman v. Lemire, “denouncing the Canadian Human Rights Commission, its aggressive style and its punitive powers.” Levant continued: “So two years after being a censor himself, Hadjis now calls censorship un-Canadian, un-constitutional and illegal. He says he will have nothing more to do with it and he will refuse to implement it. Wow.”

As someone who’s chronicled the HRCs ludicrous assaults on our liberty for a couple of years now, particularly in my book The Tyranny of Nice, I was as surprised as Levant was that a defector had appeared in its ranks.

Read the rest here. Also noted at Kathy’s blog.

Fourth, from the Vancouver Sun: Girl in wheelchair forced out of Saskatoon school over funding dispute:

SASKATOON — The mother of an 11-year-old girl with spina bifida is outraged her daughter was told to pack up her desk before leaving a Saskatoon school last Friday, thanks to a bureaucratic tussle over money between school divisions.

[...]

By Monday morning, the public school division assured the Abbotts Breanna could stay at Brunskill — but only for the rest of this school year.

Abbott is pleased but says if the family is back in the same position at the end of the year, she’ll likely file a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

Read it all here. H/t to Media dis&dat.

Fifth, Ezra Levant shows up yet again. From The South Asian Link: Jewish Book Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary:

VANCOUVER – There’s a multitude of events at this year’s JCCGV Jewish Book Festival (Nov 21-25, 2009) with a lineup of dynamic and fascinating writers from across Canada, the US, and Israel. The popular cultural extravaganza brings high-profile authors and a wide audience from across the Lower Mainland together for five exciting days and nights. The Festival week is filled with innovative literary events including meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings, panel discussions, writing and publishing workshops, children’s authors, and an onsite bookstore open throughout the week. This year’s milestone Festival offers something of interest for all age groups and every literary taste.

Featured 2009 authors include:

[...]

• Controversial writer and journalist Ezra Levant (Shakedown) sharing his provocative opinions about the Canadian Human Rights Tribunals.

Read the rest here. More coverage from the Vancouver Courier ( scroll down ).

Sixth, Arthur Mauro writes, for the Winnipeg Free Press: A new Geneva on the Prairies:

In 2012, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be completed and will become an international symbol, projecting the past and continuing global struggle in pursuit of human dignity. For me, it will represent the achievement of this community that has confronted the challenges of discrimination and has chosen respect for diversity and reconciliation over intolerance and conflict. This is reflected in institutions such as the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Foundation, the United Way and a myriad of other agencies all in pursuit of social justice.

[...]

In 2012, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will bring physical reality to Winnipeg’s role in this human drama. With the opening of the museum, we should urge the federal government to locate the Canadian Human Rights Commission here in Winnipeg.

We should pursue the possibility of the United Nations opening a UNESCO office in Winnipeg, to deal specifically with the issues confronting aboriginal people around the world.

In short, we have in place the framework that can be built on to profile Winnipeg as a world centre in peace studies and human rights.

Read it all here.

Seventh, George Jonas writes for the Post:

Ultimately, asymmetric terror triumphs when it allows perpetrators to masquerade as victims. It’s the intolerant demanding tolerance that bedevils Western civil liberties and anti-defamatory organizations from diverse Holland to multicultural Canada. Venerable institutions that stood up boldly against an anti-Semitism that didn’t dare speak its name  have been thrown for a loop by an anti-Semitism that shouts its name from the rooftops.

Let guilt-ridden, camouflaged, Waspish or pure laine anti-Semitism betray its presence by a feeble sound, it will likely be pulverized, even today, by fearless B’nai Brith or Canadian Jewish Congress types; maybe even the real or the “human rights” police. But when robust, self-righteous, grievance-fuelled, boisterous anti-Semitism browbeats, disrupts and intimidates — as it has, from universities to trade unions to book stores — there’s a good chance the same anti-defamatory organizations will look the other way. As for the Jewish targets of a new, in-your-face, mid-Eastern-style anti-Semitism, they’ll be lucky if Canada’s “human rights” commissars don’t turn on them.

Read it here. H/t to Blazing Cat Fur.

Finally, finding yourself brought up before a Human Rights Commission; and old friends of Barbara Hall.

A very Keith Martin update

[ ED NOTE: I put this up on my personal blog last night, but I thought it was worth reposting here. ]

You remember Keith Martin, right? He’s the MP – Liberal – for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, who raised a private member’s motion against Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. He was one of the first politicians in Canada to take a stand on the issue.

Well, that was a long time ago, and so I was a little curious about the status of that particular PMM ( by the way, you should see a button for it on my sidebar to the right ). So I sent a message to Keith Martin on Facebook and asked him about it. Here’s what I wrote:

Hi Keith,

I know this is kind of a dumb question, but I was just wondering: what is the status of the Private Member’s Motion – M-446 – that you had raised? Did it ever see the light of day, or is it still buried amongst the other PMMs?

Either way, kudos to you for raising it, and for your principled stand for freedom of speech in Canada.

Cheers!

-Walker

And…was it yesterday? The days blur together sometimes…I got an answer from – presumably – someone in his office:

Walker, the motion itself has not come up for a vote, but there has been a lot of progress on the file. Thanks to the motion and the resulting media attention, Section 13 of the HR Act has been reviewd by a HOC committee and even the head of the HRC has said that it is flawed.

Thanks for your kind words – I’ll pass your note along to Keith
-Jeff

So, some rainy day, M-446 might just be the next bit of HRC-related excitement.

New Ontario Human Rights Brochure

Wish It Were So

 [ ED NOTE: Mbrandon8026 from Freedom Through Truth was kind enough to let me crosspost this item from his blog. You can read the original here.

Seriously, is this what Barbara Hall spends her time on, these days? Somebody run her for mayor again. ]

The Ontario HRT/HRC have a new brochure out to promote business. It says the following:

The Ontario Human Rights Code provides that every Ontarian has the right to equal treatment, free from discrimination and harassment in employment, accommodation, goods, services, facilities, contracts and membership in vocational associations.

The Code prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, age (18 or over, 16 and over in accommodation), marital status (including same sex partners), family status, receipt of public assistance (in accommodation) and record of offences (in employment).

There is a smiling picture of a white girl and an oriental girl, one of a smiling black girl, and one that makes no sense to me. It is a picture of a senior couple, both white, and both smiling. I get the first two, but that couple, particularly the husband are targets for free pass discrimination, since you can’t please everybody with the laundry list above, because what is not said is that it is a hierarchy.

If you are a Christian, try to get to speak your mind about things that are not politically correct, but are to you biblically correct. Good luck with that one.

It’s A Human Right – Doncha Know

The Right to Hang Your Laundry Anywhere You Want To

[ ED NOTE: Mbrandon8026 from Freedom Through Truth was kind enough to let me crosspost this item from his blog. You can read the original here. ]

I have a new windmill for our HRCs to tilt at. Read this piece from Yahoo News.

As the article starts:

Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal.

You go girl.

Froehlich says she hangs her underwear inside. The effervescent 54-year-old is one of a growing number of Americans demanding the right to dry laundry on clotheslines despite local rules and a culture that frowns on it.

Their interests are represented by Project Laundry List, a group that argues people can save money and reduce carbon emissions by not using their electric or gas dryers, according to the group’s executive director, Alexander Lee.

Widespread adoption of clotheslines could significantly reduce U.S. energy consumption, argued Lee, who said dryer use accounts for about 6 percent of U.S. residential electricity use.

I am not sure what effervescent has to do with it, since I think that has to do with the amount of CO2 she has in her system, which could cause green house gases. Good news though about the underwear. Inside is good.

But the right to Hang – laundry that is, not to be confused with other hanging:

For Froehlich, the “right to hang” is the embodiment of the American tradition of freedom.

“If my husband has a right to have guns in the house, I have a right to hang laundry,” said Froehlich, who is writing a book on the subject.

Besides, it saves money. Line-drying laundry for a family of five saves $83 a month in electric bills, she said.

Kevin Firth, who owns a two-bedroom condominium in a Dublin, Pennsylvania housing association, said he was fined $100 by the association for putting up a clothesline in a common area.

“It made me angry and upset,” said Firth, a 27-year-old carpenter. “I like having the laundry drying in the sun. It’s something I have always done since I was a little kid.”

Well, her husband has the right to bear arms. That’s an American right. Here in Ontario, we have the right to bear breasts. Gotta love this place.

She also has a right to write a book about hanging laundry outside. Seems to me if its an Idiots Guide to hanging laundry, it ought to be pretty short. If it is about the philosophy of hanging laundry outside, it could be a best seller, for a short story.