Freedom of speech and the Canadian Human Rights Commission

All this talk about freedom of speech reminded me of a story that had slipped my mind.  I caught wind of it on The London Fog just over a month ago and even spoke briefly to Mike (from the Fog) about it when I ran into him at a show.

A conservative forum site called FreeDominion.ca recieved a letter from an officer of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.  Here's the text:

July 16, 2007

File 2006057

Ms. Connie Wilkins
c/o Free Dominion
2033 Unity Rd.
Kingston, ON
K0H 1M0

Dear Ms. Wilkins:

I am the investigator designated under Part III of the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate the complaint of Ms. [name omitted at this time] against Free Dominion. As the investigator, it is my responsibility to gather the evidence in relation to the complainant's allegations and, once the investigation is complete, to report on my findings to the Members of the Commission.

The report will include a recommendation for the disposition of the complaint. I can recommend that a conciliator be appointed, if the evidence supports the allegations in the complaint, or that the complaint be dismissed, if the allegations are not supported by the evidence. I can also recommend to the Commission that a settlement be approved if the parties reach an agreement during the course of the investigation.

I am currently awaiting your full response to the allegations which is due on 18 July 2007.

I would like to draw your attention to section 48 of the Canadian Human Rights Act which allows the parties to settle a complaint in the course of investigation. I would be pleased to discuss the possibility of a settlement with you or your representative at any time.

You can reach me at the address and telephone number indicated at the bottom of the first page of this letter. My direct line is 999-999-9999 and my email address is OfficersName@chrc-ccdp.ca. Please note that there are security and confidentiality risks in sending information by email.

Yours Sincerely,

Officer's Name
Investigator 

 (or read it on their site)

Pay close attention to the dates.  The letter was send on July 16th, and the response was due on July 18th.  This is the day that Ms. Wilkins of FreeDominion.ca recieved the letter.

This is all they got.  They were not told what content on their site had been complained about, or the identity of the complainant.  Essentially, they were expected to respond immediately (without time to speak to a lawyer first) and without knowing what they were being accused of.

Keep in mind that FreeDominion is a forum site.  It's got a lot of users saying all kinds of things.

A few days later, on July 23rd, the offending comments were revealed.   Most of them were written by a man named Bill Whatcott.  I don't agree with the comments, in fact I think they're terribly ignorant and backwards.  But here's what caused the complaint: 

03/09/06 "To see the original hitting Edmonton mailboxes tonight. (warning disturbing but necessary photo) http://takebackcanada.com/whatcott.html "

04/24/06 "I can't figure out why the homosexuals I ran into are on the side of the Muslims. After all, Muslims who practice Sharia law tend to advocate beheading homosexuals."

03/09/06 "I defy Islamic censorship and speak about what I believe is the truth about violent Islamism and its threat to religious liberty in Canada."

These she added with no accreditation, but she doesn't seem to be attributing them to Whatcott:

"How many of us pay nothing but lip service to the Muslim threat here in Canada?"
"Probably everyone want to jail a Muslim."
"I have to ask why we are importing them here?"
"Islamic fundamentalism and its threat to Canada's religious and civil liberties."

Like I said, I completely disagree with these comments.  But I do think that people should have the right to write them.  If I had it my way, we wouldn't have to delete this kind of stuff on this site.  We could just counter it, which should be as easy as knocking over a house of cards.  But we do have a policy about deleing hate propaganda because it's the law, and I don't think we really need to stick our necks out to defend hate mongerers when there are bigger battles to fight.

Beyond this site however, should people be allowed to say this kind of stuff in Canada?   Yes, I think they should.

For starters, I don't think censorship is an effective tool against hate.  It puts people on the defensive, and gives others the impression that the haters are the under dogs unfairly persecuted by big government. 

If hate propaganda is censored, it's that much more difficult to argue against it.  We, the non-haters, don't stand a chance at changing the minds of the haters if we can't converse with them.  

There's also the undecided.  They should have access to all of the opinions available as they are constucting their own.  Censoring hate material isn't going to be as effective as providing clear, reasonable arguments against it.  Personally, I want people to disagree with hateful, ignorant comments like the ones above.  I think that when compared side by side, the arguments based on hate and ignorance will always lose.

The biggest issue however, is the slippery slope.  I'm worried that by letting the government censor one kind of expression, it'll be easier for the government to start censoring others.  I'm worried that it will become against the law to advocate things like general strikes, revolt and civil disobediance.  Many of the ideas and values that I express regularly are very unpopular.  I'd rather not go to jail for them if it can be helped.

On that note, a quote from Noam Chomsky is in order:

Among people who have learned something from the 18th century (say, Voltaire) it is a truism, hardly deserving discussion, that the defense of the right of free expression is not restricted to ideas one approves of, and that it is precisely in the case of ideas found most offensive that these rights must be most vigorously defended.

You can read the entire essay here: Some Elementary Comments on the Rights of Freedom of Expression.  He wrote it after defending the rights of a French professor who got convicted for denying the Holocaust.  My favourite part was when he made fun of the Communist Party.  It sums up a lot of what I'm trying to say much more eloquently than I can at this hour.

And then of course, there's the famous quote that is attributed to Voltaire.  He didn't actually say it, but it's a good one: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." 

As far as FreeDominion.ca goes, the complaint was withdrawn.

Jeremy