We're not alone
You know our take, so we thought we'd share what some of our peers have been saying about last week's B.C. Human Rights Tribunal
Macleans.ca staff | Jun 10, 2008 | 22:30:28
"Supporters of free speech can do a few simple things. First, the Canadian and U.S. media need to start speaking out soon, and loudly. Aside from the fact that condemning these kinds of tribunals is the right thing to do, such proceedings also threaten the press’s very livelihood. Silence only serves the cause of this miscarriage of justice. Speak up—and free Steyn, Maclean’s, and Canada." –National Review editorial
"Free speech includes the right to make claims that are wrong, stupid or abhorrent—or it is no freedom at all. The way to rebut Mark Steyn is through argument." –Johann Hari, The Independent
"I probably couldn't say this in Canada, but [the tribunal] is a ghastly, anti-democratic thing." –Doug MacEachern, Arizona Republic
"Canada's Human Rights Act defines hate speech as speech 'likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt.' The language is so capacious and vague that to be accused is tantamount to being found guilty." –Rich Lowry, Townhall.com
Continued Below
"While we may mock the Canadians for this, it may not be long before we have to fight such battles here [in the UK]." –Stephen Pollard, The Spectator
“This jumble of threats, bitterness and activist judicial philosophy is a byproduct of our rights-mad, entitlement driven age.” –National Post editorial
“The BC HRT couldn't possibly have acted any more like a kangaroo court this week if the members had pouches surgically attached to their abdomens.” –Colby Cosh, National Post
"It was a shocking, demeaning and unsettling spectacle that would be more at home in a totalitarian state." –Kitchener-Waterloo Record editorial
“Sensitivity is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't trump our constitutional right to free speech: If you don't like Don Rickles, sarcasm or being insulted, develop thicker skin or stay home. The test before you have a legitimate legal action is real harm, real injury or palpable damage. This stinks of being a sophomore legal project that has got out of hand." –Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun
"Vigorous and legitimate expressions of opinion may sometimes get some listeners or readers worked up in harmful ways. But that is not the fault of the speaker or writer of the opinion—not at least in any nation where there is free speech." –Globe and Mail editorial
"Mark Steyn is bigger than Jesus. And for that he can thank a handful of Muslims. Or more precisely, he can thank a handful of Muslim goofballs who can't quite grasp that trying to censor an author who claims Muslims in western countries aren't embracing western traditions of individual liberty is perhaps not the most effective rebuttal of the author's thesis." –Dan Gardner, Ottawa Citizen
