The Lynch List, 16-Mar-2011

First: The CHRT has delivered a common-sense ruling on the First Nations child welfare case, dismissing the complaint on a motion for dismissal by the federal government. If the constitution mandates that First Nations services be provided by the federal government, while the same service to non-status persons is under provincial jurisdiction, it goes without saying that the federal government is going to provide its service inequitably (more or less) than the provinces. In fact, a counter-complaint could be launched that argued non-status persons are being discriminated against when First Nations receive more funding than they.

In their reaction, First Nations groups claim racism. I have often commented that all policies in favour of First Nations are racist, to the withering denial of others. But here we have an admission by First Nations groups themselves that inequitable policies between First Nations and non-status  are, indeed, racist.

First nations advocacy groups also claim that the human rights of First Nations children are being violated on the basis of the outcomes of child welfare funding. Human rights codes are always preceded by statements acknowledging equality of opportunity, which its critics (including myself) have long argued is slowly redefined into the Marxist “equality of outcomes”. This is no different than other rights-agitators who claim that any inequity between racial, ethnic, gender, or whatever groups legitimizes state intervention to equalize – equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity.

If I might close this rant with my favorite quote from F. A. Hayek: “…any policy aiming directly at a substantive ideal of distributive justice must lead to the destruction of the Rule of Law”.

Second: Howard Levitt gives some sage instructions to employers now that the Human Rights Tribunals have put employers liable for fallout from relationships between employees. Though you have to wonder if requiring periodic interviews of staff involved in relationships is not itself a breach of some section of Human Rights law. Ah, well, the entire system is meant to create a nation of lawbreakers…