Mark Steyn (pictured), bright, humorous and provocative - one of the most popular conservative columnist in the English-speaking world - is the author of America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It , an excerpt discussing the demographic rise of Islam in the West was published in the magazine Macleans October 20, 2006 under the title The Future Belongs To Islam . The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), who did not like the article, calls Macleans publishes such a refutation of what Steyn's article over several pages. Macleans refused.
So writes the Canadian Islamic Congress complaint against Maclean's magazine and its editor Kenneth Whyte for human rights violations, and filed with the commission of human rights in British Columbia, Ontario and federal governments. Macleans is "flagrantly Islamophobic "And" subjecting Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt, "according to a statement from Congress.
It may shock those who do not follow the evolution of human rights in Canada, but Macleans will probably lose.
And here's why, according to an article by Ezra Levant ( Censorship In the Name of 'human rights' , National Post, December 17, 2007 ).
Here translation of this text by the site Point de Bascule :
(from the second paragraph)
"This is a new strategy for the CIC, which in the past has tried unsuccessfully to sue the media with which he disagreed - including the National Post - using the Canadian law on defamation. But Canadian civil courts are not the best tool for this kind of intimidation. In a libel suit, the ICC should hire its own lawyer, follow the rules of the court, and prove they suffered actual damages - and newspapers were the defense that the published comments are fair and accurate. The launch vexatious action against Maclean would mean a defeat embarrassing for the ICC, a court order ordering him to pay legal costs of the magazine, and enhance the reputation of the ICC as a group of radicals who do not understand Canadian values. (Three years ago, Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Egyptian origin of the ICC, said that every adult Jew in Israel is a legitimate target for terrorists).
So civil remedies will not work. Criminal charges are also doomed to failure: Canadian law on hate propaganda are reserved for extreme acts incitement, and charges can be filed only with the approval of the Minister of Justice. And in a criminal court, the defendant's guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. No luck here.
is why human rights commissions of the individual are the ideal instrument for the CIC. The ICC did not even need to hire a lawyer. Once the complaint has been accepted by the commissions, taxpayers' dollars and government lawyers are used to pursue the matter. Maclean, on the other hand, will hire its own lawyers with its own money. The court rules do not apply. The normal rules of evidence do not apply. The commissions are not neutral: they are filled with activists, many of whom are not even lawyers and do not include the protection afforded freedom of expression guaranteed by our constitution.
And the penalties that these commissions can order are bizarre. Besides fines to the government and payments to plaintiffs, defendants may be forced to "apologize" for having unacceptable political or religious views.
An apology might not sound onerous, yet is much more troubling than a fine. Order a person - or a magazine - to say or publish words which it does not believe is an Orwellian act of thought control. The editor of Maclean's, Ken Whyte, maintains that his magazine is fair. But human rights commissions of the person have the power to order him to publish a confession that he is a bigot - or, as in one Ontario case, even order someone to study Islam. "
Two newspaper columnists - Margaret Wente the Globe and Mail of Toronto and Ali Eteraz of Guardian of Britain - to advise the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) to withdraw his complaints against Macleans magazine . The ICC's attempt to censor the press reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of freedom of expression in a democracy and reinforces prejudice against Muslims.
translation in French text by Margaret Wente:
Who feeds the prejudices?
by Margaret Wente, the Globe and Mail
"The reputation of Canadian Muslims is unfortunately marred by the most vociferous minority of them - as these lads of Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) who were so offended that an economist writes "mullah or sheik" that they demanded he apologize and follow courses in "cultural awareness" (and they got what they wanted).
For those thirsty for objections, the slightest insult becomes a hate crime. The CIC provides another example with the complaint against Maclean's magazine. The CIC is furious that the magazine has published an excerpt from the book The Future Belongs to Islam by Mark Steyn. According to counsel for the ICC, the article "provides a false representation of Canadian Muslims, their communities, their religion and their values." One complainant said "I felt personally offended."
"Mark Steyn, a journalist published regularly by Macleans, has probably offended 99% of its players at one time or another. It's his style! The offending article is written all over the Steyn: provocative, colorful and coarsely exaggerated. Steyn argues that the West is declining demographically and culturally, while the Islamic population is experiencing a population boom and argues vigorously culture. He did not say a word about Canadian Muslims. "
Another Canadian organization, the Canadian Muslim Congress opposed the Islamic Congress.
On 3 January, Rex Murphy that was mentioned in the Kiosk , made his comment on the case Macleans in connection with the issuance The National, CBC (English network Radio-Canada).
The question: "How is it that human rights address columnist Mark Steyn? And what happened to freedom of expression? "
Rex Murphy condemned the use of the Human Rights Commission to censure Macleans. One can hear the commentary Rex Murphy (4 min 29 sec) or read the translation of his remarks: Human Rights adrift! by Rex Murphy .
Other articles on the subject to read on the site Tipping Point .
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