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Contents
Contact us!
152 Carlton Street PO Box 92545 Toronto, Ontario M5A 2K1 Canada
Canadian Association For Free Expression
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Canadian Association for Free Expression PH: 905-274-3868; FAX: 905-278-2413 http://www.canadianfreespeech.com - paul@paulfromm.com October
18, 2007 Despite Parliamentary Ban, CAFE Press Conference Will
Go Ahead, Friday, Oct. 19
Directed
by Jason Kenny, Multiculturalism
Minister in the increasingly authoritarian Harper government, the House of
Commons unanimously passed an order yesterday banning Mr. Fromm and
Kulbashian from the premises of the House of Commons, They had booked a
half hour press conference for 1:30 to criticize the Canadian Human Rights
Commission’s assault on free speech on the Internet. “We
pay taxes too,” said Mr. Fromm, who has represented many of the victims
of the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s attack on dissent on the
Internet. “Kenny and the thoughtless MPs who voted to ban us are merely
public stewards. It’s our Parliament as well.” “What
fools they make of us, when they rightly lecture despotic regimes like
Burma or Red China for their human rights abuses, yet seek to prevent us
from holding a mere press conference to criticize government misdeed,”
Fromm observed. The
Canadian Association for Free
Expression has steadfastly opposed government censorship of the
Internet and the activities of Richard
Warman, a one-time CHRC investigator, who has filed well over 25
complaints against right-of-centre Internet sites and dissidents. CAFÉ
charges that: ·
The CHRC is ideologically
motivated and only attacking Canadians who are right-of-centre, usually
young and almost always poor – too poor to afford legal counsel; ·
In stark contrast to
established Anglo-Saxon legal precedents, truth is no defence in
Canadian Human Rights cases; ·
The CHRC has spied on
Internet dissidents and made use of agitators and agents provocateurs in
an effort to compromise Canadians using the Internet; ·
The CHRC has forged secret
relations with police departments to raid dissidents and obtain evidence
the Commission could not legally obtain, in effect, creating a secret and
unaccountable political thought police in ·
The Act is supposed to be
“remedial”, but with life-long “cease and desist orders” and
brutal fines, the Internet censorship provisions are punitive ·
The Act envisions mediation
and compromise to settle most complaints. While 88% of non-Internet
complaints are settled without going to a Tribunal, over 70% of Internet
cases go the costly distance to
Tribunal – even when any complained of material was removed. ·
Tribunal “members” or
judges are chosen for their bias in favour of group rights (minority
feelings) rather than individual rights (freedom of expression). Not
surprisingly no one – yes , no one – in 38 years has ever been
acquitted in a CHRC Sec. 13.1 or free speech case.
http://www.canadianfreespeech.com
Commons ban on right-wing extremists raises freedom of speech questionsWayne
Sumner, a professor of philosophy at the "If people utter hate messages in public then that's a criminal offence and they can rightly be charged under the Criminal Code with that offence," he said. "But you've got to wait for them to do it first. You don't pre-empt them by saying, 'Well we think you might do something like that, we've got to stop you in advance."' MPs unanimously approved the ban with this motion: "That this House order that Alexan Kulbashian and Paul Fromm be denied admittance to the precincts of the House of Commons during the present session to preserve the dignity and integrity of the House." Ernst Zundel, the notorious Holocaust denier, is the only other person to be similarly banned. The Commons passed a motion against him in 1998. Fromm and Kulbashian had been scheduled to speak to reporters Thursday in the Charles Lynch Press Theatre in the Centre Block. They wanted to outline their complaints about what they see as the excessive powers of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. They claim human rights legislation is being used to stifle political dissent. Fromm and Kulbashian have been the subject of commission investigations. They are also associated with a long list of far-right groups. A human rights tribunal last year fined Kulbashian over a racist website. "Black
persons and people of the Jewish faith are particularly laid open to
ridicule, ill feelings or hostility, creating the right conditions for
hatred or contempt against them to flourish," the ruling said. Fromm, a teacher, was fired from his Toronto-area classroom over his views. He is a former member of the Western Guard and a self-styled director of other right-wing groups, including the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee and the Canadian Association for Free Expression. Normally, the press theatre is open to any group wanting to speak to reporters on a topic linked to the federal government. Richard Brennan, a reporter for The Toronto Star and president of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, was disappointed by the motion. He said free speech is a given for journalists. "That's what we're all about, that's what our job is, that's what the whole parliamentary process is about." He said people have a right to criticize the rights commission. "We aren't arbiters of what people can say and what they can't say." Jason Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism who moved the motion, said the two can find another venue. "If they want to get a soapbox and go out in front of the Parliament Buildings in this free country, they're welcome to do so, but this House isn't going to let them use public, taxpayer-funded resources," he said. Sumner, author of a 2004 book entitled The Hateful and the Obscene: Studies in the Limits of Free Expression, didn't buy that argument. "These
guys pay taxes too, don't they? If it's public space in that respect, then
you would think it should be open to any point of view, however repugnant
that point of view might be."
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