Looks like the CHRC is already trying to bury the Moon Report

Kenneth Hynek • 25th Nov 2008 • World News, Canadian News, Politics, Canadian Politics, Politics, World News
Canada, Canadian Human Rights Act, Censorship, CHRC, Ezra Levant, human rights commission, Internet, Jennifer Lynch, National Post, Quebec, Richard Moon, section 13

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Ezra Levant, in the National Post, comments on the latest development in the ongoing fracas over Canada’s human rights commission.

It’s not a hopeful development:

…to the surprise of critics like me, Moon recommended that section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act — the so-called “hate speech” provision, which empowers the CHRC to censor the Internet and other electronic media — be repealed. Instead of a whitewash, Moon’s report was the opposite — another nail in the coffin of the thought police.

The CHRC was surprised, too, and obviously not pleased. Although Moon’s report used the word “repeal” 11 times — it was his primary recommendation — that word appears nowhere in the CHRC’s press release announcing his findings.

In fact, the CHRC has already thrown Moon under the bus, minimizing his report as merely some “suggestions,” and announcing that they want a do-over. In the very same press release, they announced another round of consultations on the subject, at untold public expense — and this time they’ll be more careful about who’s allowed to participate.

It’s a lot like Quebec separatists and their referendums. They’re just going to keep on asking the question until they get the answer they want: the power to censor Canadians.

…Moon’s report is not without its flaws. But it does restate some basic truths to which the CHRC, especially its chief commissioner, Jennifer Lynch, have become blind.

The CHRC is shedding its credibility like my parents’ cat sheds fur in the summertime, but the opinions of those outside of its offices is clear: section 13 has got to go. Whether it will go is another matter entirely, and I don’t think we should delude ourselves into thinking that the CHRC will let go of its primary Censorship tool easily or willingly.

In an ideal world, the commission (and its provincial counterparts) would be dissolved, their funding diverted to more worthwhile enterprises. We’ll probably have to settle for something far short of that lofty goal.