At Home in Hespeler

As Newspapers cut back, editors are one of the easy places to cut, A good editor doesn’t just correct spelling and grammar, but they cut extraneous words. If it’s repetitive or unnecessary, out it goes. Case in point, The National Post article, Rachel Dolezal’s Fall From Grace, by Robyn Ur­back,

Her self-identification as black, thus, has basically no foundation in her biological reality.

See, a good editor would have trimmed this to the more accurate: “Her self-identification as black, thus, has no foundation in reality.”

Of course what Urback is doing is, to use Mark Steyn’s phrase, “a palpable bet-hedging.” The Steyn phrase is from a piece today called Tweet of Clay, and the bit about bet-hedging is not the highlight. This line is:

More and more levers of civilization appear to be in the hands of the clinically insane.

It’s a line I use nowadays when people start talking politics. Right. left, conservative, liberal, Party A, Party B, it’s irrelevant. I let people bitch from whatever side they argue from, and eventually I say, “It’s because they’re all nuts. Every one of them is actually, literally crazy.” It never fails, whatever they are complaining about, can be explained easily by “they’re all, literally, crazy.”

The reason it works is because, I’m becoming more and more convinced, it’s 100% true. Never mind Mark Steyn’s little “bet-hedging,” he almost right: More and more levers of civilization are in the hands of the clinically insane.

for certified professional guitar repair in Cambridge Ontario: Brian Gardiner Guitar Repair

free speech, Mark Steyn Mark Steyn, Rachel Dolezal, Robyn Ur­back

They can prevent you from seeing the movie in Ottawa by threat of violence, but they can’t stop you from watching the movie in your own home. On Feb 8, the makers of Iranium are giving on on-line preview of their movie to the first 50,000 people who register.

free speech free speech, Iran, Iranium

I was disappointed in my alma mater, the University of Waterloo (UW), after the Christie Blatchford debacle last month. Et tu, Waterloo I mumbled to no one in particular.

However, unlike other Ontario Universities in Premier Dad’s Paradise, UW stepped up with an immediate, and unequivocal apology:

The university considers Friday’s events as an attack on its presence as a place where issues are explored, discussed and at times debated. The freedom to speak and to learn is fundamental to the institution.

Yesterday, the university had Blatchford back:

“flanked by dozens of police,” to give her speech. Agitator Dan Kellar was nowhere to be found, having been banned from the campus….

“God bless Dan Kellar. Driving up book sales wherever he goes,” Blatchford said afterward.

Good on Christeie Blatchford, and good on UW for making sure this event went off safely.

Books, free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy Christie Blatchford, Dan Keller, University of Waterloo

The dumber leftists who presume to speak for “Canadians,” such as Denise Cooke-Browne or the appalling Susan G. Cole may not see it, but when The Canadian Association of University Teachers sends a letter to Dr. Francois Houle, you know the University of Ottawa crossed a line:

March 22, 2010

Dr. Francois Houle
Vice-President Academic and Provost
University of Ottawa
Room 217A Tabaret Hall
550 Cumberland
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 6N5

Dear Dr. Houle:

We are deeply disturbed by your correspondence with Ann Coulter regarding her speaking engagement at the University of Ottawa tomorrow. Your admonishing her about speech rights in Canada raises serious questions about the University of Ottawa’s respect for freedom of expression and academic freedom.

The purpose of a university is aptly captured in the University of Toronto’s statement on the “Purpose of the University”:

Within the unique university context, the most crucial of all human rights are the rights of freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research. And we affirm that these rights are meaningless unless they entail the right to raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself.

Ms. Coulter certainly does raise disturbing questions and provocative challenges. While many of us profoundly disagree with her, a university should welcome controversial speakers and vigorous debate, not seek to restrict discourse or speakers.

We feel you owe an apology to Ms. Coulter and, even more importantly, you owe the University of Ottawa community an assurance that the administration of the University strongly supports freedom of expression, academic freedom and views the role of the university as fostering and defending these values.

Yours truly,

Penni Stewart                            James L. Turk
President                                   Executive Director

h/t goes to Ezra via Facebook.

free speech Anne Coulter, Denise Cooke-Brown, Ezra Levant, François Houle, Susan G. Cole, University of Ottawa

In the wake of the Ann Coulter fiasco, the most astounding letter appeared on the pages of the National Post Wednesday. From one Denise Cooke-Browne, a former journalist/human rights investigator (i.e. thought police-woman), the writer professes to be all for free speech. With a tone of, “well the proletariat twits will speak so we may as well let them,” she defends free speech as being a) in her favour and b) a fundamental freedom as defined in the Canadian Constitution, in that order.

The rest of the letter falls into the “be that as it may” form of argument. Ann Coulter, Cooke-Browne argues, should be charged for her uttering’s. Hell, she should be charged, in Canada, for what she said in the USA. She is a section 318 thought criminal and immoral as she finds the noose, an exception could be made.

The thing is, free speech isn’t just two little words in isolation which, depending on your inclination towards interpretation, could mean should be available at no cost on the internet. The phrase “free speech” is a contraction of the sentence “all speech will be free of prosecution.” You can’t be in favour of speech being free of prosecution and prosecuting Ann Coulter for her speech. It’s rather like being in favour of free love and thinking it’s OK to stone adulteresses… oh wait…. It’s rather like being a librarian in favour of book burning… no that won’t do…

If you want a peek into the minds of the the insufferable twitsour betters who run the HRC’s in Canada, have a peek at today’s letters page in the National Post, and see what former Newfoundland Human Rights Investigator Denise Cooke-Browne has to say. Frighteningly absurd posturing wrapped up in official condemnation.

free speech, pimply minions of bureaucracy Ann Coulter, Denise Cooke-Browne, National Post

that you subject yourself to hatred and contempt, is it still hate speech?

Dear Ms. Coulter,

I understand that you have been invited by University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives to speak at the University of Ottawa this coming Tuesday. We are, of course, always delighted to welcome speakers on our campus and hope that they will contribute positively to the meaningful exchange of ideas that is the hallmark of a great university campus. We have a great respect for freedom of expression in Canada, as well as on our campus, and view it as a fundamental freedom, as recognized by our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would, however, like to inform you, or perhaps remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or “free speech”) in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here. You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression. For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges. Outside of the criminal realm, Canadian defamation laws also limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed. I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind. There is a strong tradition in Canada, including at this University, of restraint, respect and consideration in expressing even provocative and controversial opinions and urge you to respect that Canadian tradition while on our campus. Hopefully, you will understand and agree that what may, at first glance, seem like unnecessary restrictions to freedom of expression do, in fact, lead not only to a more civilized discussion, but to a more meaningful, reasoned and intelligent one as well.

I hope you will enjoy your stay in our beautiful country, city and campus.

Sincerely,

François Houle
Vice-recteur aux études / Vice-President Academic and Provost
Université d’Ottawa / University of Ottawa
550, rue Cumberland Street
Ottawa (ON) K1N 6N5
téléphone / telephone : 613 562-5737
télécopieur / fax : 613 562-5103

As Blazing Cat Fur say’s, “Maybe it sounded better in the original German?” Well they did master the concept of pre-crime.

Original h/t to Five Feet of Fury.

free speech Ann Coulter, François Houle, Kathy Shaidle, Mark Steyn

J. Edgar Hoover had a file too. Here’s a hard and fast rule of 1930-60’s America, don’t piss of J. Edgar or you’ll find yourself with a file. Fast forward to Canada, 2009, and discover another bureaucrat who keeps files: Canadian Human Rights commissioner Jennifer Lynch:

Please, please, look. We have experienced 16 months of invective hurled at us, and at any time when anybody has tried to speak up and correct misinformation, gross distortions, caricaturizations,[sic] then the very next day there’s been some full-frontal assault through the blogs, through mainstream media. I have a file. I’m sure I have 1,200, certainly several hundred of these things.

Twelve-hundred files. On whom? may we ask. Bloggers who speak ill of your institution? Ezra Levant? Mark Steyn? No doubt all of the above, but here’s a question for you Jennifer, do you have a file on Warren Kinsella, defender of the HRC’s? But of course, they’re her files, and she being a mere public servant, none of my business.

Of course, Ms. Lynch says so much more, including defending her job:

I’m a public servant responsible for giving effect to the principle that ‘individuals should have the right equal to others to make for themselves a life they are able and wish to have,’ and I’m going to do it.

I always like to pull out the old UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, when people like Jennifer Lynch want to debate these things always seems like a good place to start. Oh, and speaking of starting, here’s something from the second paragraph of the Preamble, you don’t get much more basic human rights than that which appears in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human rights:

…the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief

I searched in vain, by the way, for any reference to the “right equal to others to make for themselves a life they are able and wish to have,” whatever that actually means.

At the end of the day, that’s what this fight is about, everybody’s right to speak and think freely, without intimidation from some government lackey, whether in the form of hauling your sorry self before a tribunal, or just keeping a file on you.

free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, human rights, Jacobian Piece of Impertinence, pimply minions of bureaucracy Ezra Levant, free speech, Hoover, HRC, Human Rights Commisions, J. Edgar Hoover, Jennifer Lynch, Mark Steyn, UN, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Warren Kinsella

The posts are all in from Monday Nights FreeSpeechApalooza in London with Kathy Shaidle, Salim Mansur and Ezra Levant. Mark Steyn has been discussing it, as has Ezra himself and Kathy.  Right Girl, Dr. Roy, Winston, Wonder Woman, Josephine and Strictly Right have all weighed in.  Blazing Cat Fur has a transcript of Kathy’s speech and Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy has video.

As for me, I have pictures:

free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, Go Ezra Go, pimply minions of bureaucracy, Uncategorized Dr. Roy, Ezra Levant, Kathy Shaidle, pimply minions of bureaucracy, Right Girl, Salim Mansur, Wonder Woman

It was a great night in London as 600 people absolutly filled the London City Music Theatre to the rafters to hear Five Feet of Fury’s Kathy Shaidle, Salim Mansur and Ezra Levant speak on free speech and human rights commisions in Canada.

Got the chance to meet Right Girl’s Wendy, Dr. Roy and Wonder Woman with her hubby Mike, and it was a pleasure to meet you all. Kathy was also on the meet list, but she was more than a little whelmed and wasn’t picking up who I was – I should have led with my twittername iambriandammit.

Kathy was, in fact, the surprise of the evening for me. I know her as one of us, a blogger. But her resume really is far more than that, and she is an excellent public speaker. Her speech was funny and informative, possibly highlight of the evening.

Salim Mansur was the dignified gentleman in black suit and tie. He looked elegant and (according to Wendy), handsome. His speech was very well thought out, you could tell he’s put a lot of time in considering these issues over his life, and highly passionate.

Of course, everyone came to hear Ezra Levant speaking. his book is a bestseller, about to enter a third printing, in the top five at Chapters and Amazon. In short, Ezra is hot at the moment. He didn’t have a prepared speech, instead grabbed a point Kathy Shaidle made, that human rights commissions are highly Canadian institutions, and rebutted it arguing that they are, in fact, un-Canadian. His main point was that something human rights commissions do is attempt to brand people who come before them as un-Canadian. He didn’t seem to like giving up the idea that they were inherently Canadian, thus making those who oppose them un-Canadian.

All in all it was a good night. I picked up Kathy’s The Tyranny of Nice and got it signed, and got my copy of Shake Down signed and I met a couple of fellow bloggers, finally. Yea, it was a good night.

I have pictures, but have to get to work now. I’ll post them tonight.

free speech, Go Ezra Go, human rights, pimply minions of bureaucracy

Tonight at the London City Music Theatre, a night of mayhem with Ezra Levant, Salim Mansur and Kathy Shaidle discussing Canada’s Human Rights Comissions.

It looks like Wendy (she’ll be the one with the Starbucks) and Wonder Woman will be there. As will I. If your going keep an eye open for me, I’d love to say hi. I’ll have a full report, plus pictures tomorrow.

****************

Update: Looking forward to seeing Dr. Roy there tonight as well.

free speech Ezra Levant, Girl on teh Right, human rights, Human Rights Comissions, Kathy Shaidle, London City Music Theatre, London Ontario, Salim Mansur, Starbucks, Wonder Woman

We sit here and pontificate on the Human Rights Commissions in this country,  fighting the forces of censorship, of state controlled speech, and some days,it feels like progress is being made. Ezra Levant goes off the deep end on Michael Coren, and we cheer. Mark Steyn fights with high profile and a high margin of victory, and hooray! Baby steps forward. But it is clear, the fight against censorship is being lost,and lost badly.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission is calling for Parliament to force all Canadian magazines, newspapers and “media services” Web sites to join a national press council with the power to adjudicate breaches of professional standards and complaints of discrimination.

Barbara Hall, who claimed a lack of jurisdiction in the Steyn complaint last year and then pronounced on the complaint anyway, thinks all media, including blogs, should be subject to a national press council.

The implications for this are massive, and they affect every current event blogger. Doesn’t this mean that anonymous bloggers must register their blogs? Won’t they have to unanonymousize? What about reptilian kitten eaters? Must they register? Would a press council even allow us to call Gilligan that, or would we be forced to post, on our own blogs, paid for with real after tax day job dollars, an I’ve been a very naughty boy judgements against us?

No, we may be winning the debate, but we are losing the war. When the pimply minions of bureaucracy feel quite at liberty to make such suggestion, we not only aren’t making progress, we are going backwards.

And what Gilligan Kinsella and the rest of the apologists need to realize in a hurry is, either we all have free speech, or none of us do.

free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, human rights, Jacobian Piece of Impertinence, pimply minions of bureaucracy

The resolution is available in .pdf version, or .doc version.

free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, pimply minions of bureaucracy

Ezra Levant is all over the pages of the National Post today, as the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission rejected the Danish cartoon complaint against the Western Standard magazine. To Levant this was a freedom of speech issue, and rejected claim or no, he believes freedom of speech lost:

This censor approved what I wrote. His decision is not that I have freedom of speech. His decision is that I have his approval. I’m not interested in his approval. The only test of free speech is if I can write what he disapproves of with impunity. That’s what freedom of speech is, to piss off some second-rate bureaucrat like Pardeep Gundara and know that you have the right to do so, because you’re in Canada, not Saudi Arabia.

I’m frankly usually unimpressed with many people who think their free speech has been trampled on : The Internet is full of grieved morons who believe someone asking them to watch their language in a public chat room is speech oppression; or Australians who know their firsts amendment rights and how they apply to the internet. No, just because Ezra says his speech was limited does not mean it was.

However, the complainants representative, a director with the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities, Yasmeen Nizam, appears to support Levant’s argument:

Obviously we didn’t want this to continue, so [another goal was] perhaps to discourage people from further maligning our prophet and our religion…. We wanted this to have a deterrent effect.

Discourage people from maligning their prophet and religion and have a deterrent effect. And how might they do that:

I never wanted someone’s freedom of speech curtailed. I always wanted to sit down, with some third party, for mediation, and have a discussion

The question is, if a you can get a government agency to sit down and “mediate” a “discussion” about somebody maligning your prophet and religion to create a deterrent effect, how are you not curtailing that person’s freedom of speech? The answer is, as Levant argues here, that’s exactly what you are doing. And he is right.

free speech, freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, Go Ezra Go