[Seablogger] What my gay brethren are doing in Canada is wrong, wrong wrong. I am compelled to side with the conservative Catholic, David Warren. In free Canada, Warren could have called me sinful; I could have called him an idiot; but neither of us could have silenced the other through prosecution.
The rest.
Posted in Bloggers, International, USA
Tagged David Warren, Free Speech, Rev. Boisson, Seablogger
[ynet] Britain is dismissing the idea of holding a referendum on whether it should ditch the monarchy in favor of a written constitution.
The UN Human Rights Council offers the suggestion as part of a review of Britain’s rights record.
The rest.
Posted in Bureaucrats, International, UK, United Nations, Your Money
Tagged Great Britain, Human Rights, Politics, UK, UN, UN Human Rights Council, United Nations, Your Money
[Pink News] Members of Parliament in Norway today approved a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry.
The new law, which passed by 84 votes to 41, will make marriage gender neutral.
The Scandinavian country already allows gay and lesbian couples to enter into civil partnerships, but LGBT rights groups had long complained the law does not go far enough.
The rest.
Posted in Europe, International
Tagged Europe, Gay Rights, Human Rights, Norway, Politics
1. Healing circle: Post your own apology here:
The rest. Well, scroll down to the comments, as there’s a blank spot where your own apology needs to go.
We did a double-take, too. But apparently Wenatchee World is in Washington.
It couldn’t happen in the United States. Our liberty is protected. We can think, speak and write as we wish, without fear of the proverbial boot in our face. We can be lively, controversial, barbed, pointed, irritating in the extreme, and no matter how much people may disagree, we still have no fear that government will use its power to shut us up. At least, this is what we hope.
The rest.
Posted in BCHRT, Bloggers, Bureaucrats, CHRC, International, USA, Your Money
Tagged BCHRT, Canada, CHRC, Free Press, Maclean's, Politics, USA, Wenatchee, Your Money
From the Sincere Apologies as Perennial Politics file:
[Maclean's] On the seventh day of 1998, the Chrétien government delivered a formal “statement of reconciliation” to residential school students and established the Aboriginal Healing Foundation…“To those of you who suffered this tragedy at residential schools, we are deeply sorry.”
…
Three years later, the Department of Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada was created. The IRSRC introduced the National Resolution Framework, which included the Alternative Dispute Resolution program.
“Addressing the legacy of over 100 years of residential schools is one of the most challenging areas for our renewal and reconciliation as a nation,” declared Indian Affairs Minister Denis Coderre in April 2004.
…
In May 2005, the government signed a “Political Agreement” with the Assembly of First Nations. Six months later, Frank Iacobucci, the “Government’s Representative,” reached an “Agreement in Principle” that set aside $1.9-billion “for the direct benefit of former Indian residential school students.”
…
A year later, the Harper government approved a settlement agreement, proposed a Common Experience Payment, an Independent Assessment Process and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and launched an Advance Payment program. “The government,” confirmed Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice, “recognizes the sad legacy of Indian residential schools.”
…
A year after that, the House of Commons, by a vote of 257-0, adopted a Liberal motion that moved “that this House apologize to the survivors of Indian Residential Schools for the trauma they suffered as a result of policies intended to assimilate First Nations, Inuit, Metis children, causing the loss of aboriginal culture, heritage and language, while also leaving a sad legacy of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.”
“The position of the executive branch of government is a separate issue,” cautioned Prentice at the time.
…
This May, the government set aside this date for that apology. The promised truth and reconciliation commission, under the stewardship of Justice Harry S. LaForme, was declared operational on June 1.
…
[Stephen Harper, PM of Canada, June 11, 2008] “Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to offer an apology to former students of Indian residential schools,” he started, simply enough. “Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country.”
And…surprise!
[CBC News] B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Opposition leader Carole James both called Stephen Harper’s apology poignant and historic.
They said the apology is a starting point, not the conclusion, of the healing process for those taken away from their homes and families and forced to attend the religious-based schools.
See you next time.
Posted in Bureaucrats, Cash, Your Money
Tagged Aboriginal Rights, Canada, Human Rights, Politics, Residential Schools, Stephen Harper, Your Money
We asked a while ago what the New York Times would do in Maclean’s position. We figure they’d stand up for themselves, but this staff writer seems to think Canada’s got a pretty good thing going with the censorship idea. Too many conservative blogs and all that. Still, we thought Gratl’s take was interesting.
Jason Gratl, a lawyer for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Association of Journalists, which have intervened in the case in support of the magazine, was measured in his criticism of the law.
“Canadians do not have a cast-iron stomach for offensive speech,” Mr. Gratl said in a telephone interview. “We don’t subscribe to a marketplace of ideas. Americans as a whole are more tough-minded and more prepared for verbal combat.”
Many foreign courts have respectfully considered the American approach — and then rejected it.
The rest.
Posted in BCHRT, Bloggers, Bureaucrats, International, USA, Your Money
Tagged BCHRT, Canada, Heather MacNaughton, Human Rights, Maclean's, Mark Steyn, Politics, Your Money
