Down With Everybody

In a joint report, UN Watch and Freedom House, which champion human rights worldwide, lamented that Gabon and Zambia were guaranteed seats on the council because of a lack of competition from more democratic countries in their African group.

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The HRC was created two years ago to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission as part of UN reforms.

The rest.

TORONTO - A provincially funded Christian group is appealing part of a tribunal ruling that found it violated the rights of a worker who had to quit after revealing she was gay.

Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal ordered Kitchener-based Christian Horizons to compensate Connie Heintz and to end a code-of-conduct agreement for its 2,500 employees.

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Sault Star:

Once upon a time, it was simply a pain in the butt.

For the last two years, though, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has become an out-of-control juggernaut, rolling over unsuspecting bystanders in its path.

Fair enough, OHRC has always been a tad controversial — some might say off-the-wall — in its rulings.

But recent changes, and the way they are being implemented by Commissioner Barbara Hall, are pitting human rights protection against our fundamental rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

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While there may be several morals to this story, one I’d like to highlight is this: many bloggers were taking potshots at various parties yesterday as the behind-the-scenes negotiations went on. While it may have made for provocative reading, much of it bore no resemblance to the truth at the time, and obviously not to what transpired in the end.

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Buddy. He got the challenge. No letter required. He just doesn’t give a shit.

UPDATE, MORE THAN TWELVE HOURS LATER: Steyn is even linking to this web site, but - curiously - hasn’t yet responded to my offer. So I will send him a letter, just so he doesn’t miss my modest challenge. He should be able to take me easily, shouldn’t he?

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Keeping the business booming, here are a couple of your Trudeau Fellowship winners. Their mandate: “continue to question society’s worldviews and teach the importance of responsible and engaged citizenship.”

The prize: 150 large, plus 75 large for travel expenses. Each.

François Crépeau, University of Montreal: A pioneer in international migration law, he champions foreigners’ rights in Canada and abroad, including Palestine and Guantanamo Bay.

Kathleen Mahoney, University of Calgary: A leader in human rights renowned for her work on the historic settlement agreement between the Government of Canada and Aboriginal residential school survivors.

John B. Robinson, University of British Columbia: An expert in climate change mitigation, and highly respected for his capacity to build bridges between academia, industry and NGOs. He authored parts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that shared the 2007 Peace Nobel Prize with Al Gore.

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You’re in Canada, pal. Get in line.

St. Kits Standard:

Our journalists are generally free to catalogue the actions of our various levels of government, our police and military services - our society in general - without fear of arrest or murder.

But acknowledging the challenges and hardships around the globe gives us all the more reason to appreciate what it means to have a free press.

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vs.

[OHRC website} While freedom of expression must be recognized as a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, the Commission strongly condemns the Islamophobic portrayal of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and indeed any racialized community in the media, such as the Maclean’s article and others like them, as being inconsistent with the values enshrined in our human rights codes. Media has a responsibility to engage in fair and unbiased journalism.

A Chinese primary school teacher and a beautician have filed a suit against CNN in New York over remarks they say insulted the Chinese people and are seeking $1.3 billion in compensation — $1 per person in China, a Hong Kong newspaper reported.

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George Jonas:

This would neither be true, nor right, but it might be very effective. It wouldn’t be true, because our marsupial commissars can’t tell the difference between junk and journalism, at least not reliably, and it wouldn’t be right, because the concept of freedom embraces both junk and journalism, as it must, in order to mean anything. The Constitution doesn’t guarantee a quality press or a fair press, but a free press. A Steyn is only free to perform his hilarious bravura as long as a Zundel is also free to spout his plodding venom.

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Last week, Faisal Joseph, a lawyer representing the Canadian Islamic Congress, offered to “settle” the two remaining human rights complaints against Maclean’s in return for our acceding to a slightly modified version of the demands made last year.

While Maclean’s is pleased at this tacit recognition that the original demands of the students were unreasonable and rightly not accepted, we cannot accept Mr. Joseph’s offer to “settle” for the following reasons…

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For more on Faisal, see this one.