Hey, We’re Hated, Too

[Canwest] A new report that shows blacks and Jews are most likely to be the victims of hate crimes in Canada is flawed, according to the leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

The Statistics Canada study, released on Monday, relies mostly on research by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics and uses police-reported data on the race, religion and sexual orientation of victims of hate-motivated incidents, ranging from property crimes to violent crimes.

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Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the [Canadian Islamic Congress], said hate crimes against Muslims are often misfiled by police because it’s difficult to question someone’s religion, thus skewing the numbers.

The rest.

When Human Rights Collide

A trifecta. Free speech vs Religious Rights vs Gay Rights.

A Canadian human rights tribunal ordered a Christian pastor to renounce his faith and never again express moral opposition to homosexuality, according to a new report.

The rest.

St. Louis Paper: China, Russia, the Middle East…And Canada

More international bad press for the Canadian human rights commissions.

[West County Journal] In the 21st century, freedom of speech, long revered as the cornerstone of democratic thought, slowly but consistently is being eroded worldwide. This troubling pattern is not confined to illiberal places such as China, Russia or the Middle East, but increasingly is showing up in nations once thought to be paragons of liberal democracy — even Canada.

The rest.

British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal An Embarrassment To The Nation

[ChronicleHerald] From all accounts, the hearings were an embarrassment – for the tribunal, the government that appointed it and, most of all, for a nation that calls itself a free democracy. So far, however, our political leaders – with a few notable exceptions – seem to hope the courts will ultimately handle this hot potato.

The rest.

Human Rights Tribunals Need To Get Back To Original Mandate

[Times Colonist] Human rights tribunals play an important role in protecting people from acts of discrimination. When someone is denied the chance to rent an apartment or find a job because of skin colour or religion, the tribunals offer effective forums for assessing the complaint, redressing any wrong and imposing appropriate penalties.

But as the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has just demonstrated, these bodies should not be imposing penalties because what someone writes could be construed, by some people, as exposing a group to hatred or contempt.

The rest.