At Home in Hespeler

h/t Kitty on Fire

SunNewsTV Danish Cartoons, Ezra Levant

I like to use the phrase “the pimply minions of bureaucracy,” on this blog. It comes from a 1799 quote from an unknown naval officer, regarding the introduction of an income tax:

It is a vile, Jacobian, jumped up Jack-in-Office piece of impertinence – is a true Briton to have no privacy? Are the fruits of his labour and toil to be picked over, farthing by farthing, by the pimply minions of bureaucracy?”

It seems a Pimply Minion Rebellion is on.

From Ezra Levant:

First came the health department. They poked and prodded, and even took water samples. No one has ever got sick at a Jaworski barbecue — the opposite; everyone comes for the food — but the government ordered that no home cooking would be allowed. The Jaworskis complied with these costly and ridiculous demands, catering the whole weekend and serving only bottled water, at great cost. But bureaucrats travel in packs. A local bylaw enforcement officer waited until the barbecue itself, and marched right onto the property — no search warrant needed! — and started peppering the guests with questions. He wasn’t a health officer; he was a bylaw officer. Yet he demanded to know what the guests had for lunch. In the name of the law! Armed with this devastating information, the officer charged Peter’s parents with running an illegal “commercial conference centre,” which carries a fine of up to $50,000. The officer, a burly, tattooed, six-foot-something man, told Peter’s mom to “be very careful.” She burst into tears.

In using the pimply minions part of the quote, I sometimes forget the second, also wonderful, portion of it, and it fits here. This is a “vile, Jacobian, jumped up Jack-in-Office piece of impertinence,” if ever I have seen one.

Jacobian Piece of Impertinence, pimply minions of bureaucracy Clarington, Ezra Levant, Liberty Summer Seminar, Peter Jaworski

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

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

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.

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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