In solidarity with my fellow Canadian bloggers, I’m re-publishing the following comments that originally appeared on FreeDominion.ca, Canada’s answer to America’s venerable but equally sensory-overloading FreeRepublic.com.
Connie Wilkins, proprietor of FreeDominion.ca, has been served with a complaint by the Human Rights Commission, a complaint initiated by a left-wing rabble-rouser named Marie-Line Gentes. She is being forced to answer for the comments of one Bill Whatcott, a notoriously hard-edged social conservative commenter. Here are the “offending” comments. (If you can figure out what the problem is here, let me know):
03/09/06 “To see the original hitting Edmonton mailboxes tonight. (warning disturbing but necessary photo) http://takebackcanada.com/whatcott.html ”
04/24/06 “I can’t figure out why the homosexuals I ran into are on the side of the Muslims. After all, Muslims who practice Sharia law tend to advocate beheading homosexuals.”
03/09/06 “I defy Islamic censorship and speak about what I believe is the truth about violent Islamism and its threat to religious liberty in Canada.”
These she added with no accreditation, but she doesn’t seem to be attributing them to Whatcott:
“How many of us pay nothing but lip service to the Muslim threat here in Canada?”
“Probably everyone want to jail a Muslim.”
“I have to ask why we are importing them here?”
“Islamic fundamentalism and its threat to Canada’s religious and civil liberties.”
Listen to an interview with Ms. Wilkins here on Rob Breakenridge’s show, linked on The London Fog. Listen to another interview with Ms. Wilkins on Michael Coren’s show here on Bluewavecanada. Read Kathy Shaidle’s Relapsed Catholic blog for more updates.
The leftist-Islamist alliance can kiss my ass!
Flaggman's Canada 
The human rights commission doesn’t mind the whole ‘chopping off the heads of homosexuals’ thing – but they do mind when someone points out the fact that it is wrong? Oh, okay.
Gay people must be very happy that this commission is looking out for them….
The only thing about the posting to Ms. Gentes is that she is somehow offended by them. So subjective. Her feelings are hurt. Who cares?
These human “rights” commissions are a disgrace in a free country. If any Canadian is offended by the existence of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, could he bring a complaint before the Commission. And, being suicidal liberals, would the commissioners vote to abolish themselves? It might be worth a try.
If one could file a complaint every time someone offended by stating their views, the commission would be overwhelmed.
I explain my writing as a way of getting a date with Anne Coulter. No luck yet but I keep on trying.
We here in Vancouver don’t just blog, though. We are up-front and in public with what we do, meeting each Thursday evening at the public library from 7-9:00 p.m. in the atrium near Blenz coffee bar. If you care to stop in and join us for an evening you’ll notice us because we wear Israeli flags on our baseball caps to make it pretty clear that we’re not in support of sharia or socialism. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. It’s continuous.
Sounder, that is a great idea.
Good stuff, I mean Rabble/Babble gets away with the Pope as Nazi etc. but this, this just crosses the line into…truth- somehow that offends Ms. Gentes and the Starchamber.
I very much like Terry’s idea:
“Dear Human Rights Commission. As a conservative, I find the actions of your organization offensive and insulting to my culture. I would like you to investigate the Human Rights Commission.”
I think it will work!
Pingback: Lefty withdraws Human Rights complaint against FreeDominion.ca « Flaggman’s Canada
There are a number of books and authors who are now being banned because radical Islamists are threatening publishers and book retailers not to publish them/carry them.
See in particular the fate of Professor Collins’ book, Alms for Jihad, and Dr. Nancy Kobrin’s The Sheik’s New Clothes.
Here is information about my work and what happened to me in Canada. I now publish on the internet. I am in semi-hiding.
Press Release 1:
Important point of law to be considered by Ontario Human Rights Commission
When Canadian author Howard Rotberg was invited to give a lecture about his novel, The Second Catastrophe, at the Waterloo Ontario Chapters store, little did he know that he would be commencing a 3 year nightmare.
Thugs, chanting anti-American and anti-Israel slogans took over the lecture and refused to let him speak. Store staff made no effort to restore order or eject the troublemakers.
When members of the audience asked these thugs to be quiet and let the author speak, one, a self-described Iraqi, shouted that the author was a “fucking Jew”.
The only Chapters staff member in sight was a young woman wearing a hijav, who later said she was Palestinian and knew the hecklers. She then fraudulently reported to her supervisors that the author, who has a long involvement in race relations, and numerous friendships with Muslims, had stated that “all Muslims are terrorists”.
The Media Relations Director then put out a press release, carried by several newspapers accusing the author of saying things as “racist” as the hecklers, notwithstanding she had no written reports from staff, at that stage, and the author offered to provide sworn affidavits from reputable professors in the audience confirming that the author made no such racist statements.
Chapters/Indigo refused to provide the author with the written statements, and the author had to bring a Court proceeding to obtain them. The actual statements from store staff did not allege that the author said that all Muslims are terrorists, but changed the allegation to one that the author said all Middle Easterners are terrorists. This was as false as the other allegation, but even if true would not be racist, just stupid, as Middle Easterners obviously include Jews, Arab Christians, Coptic Christians, Bahais, etc. Accordingly the question arises of whether a lecturer in Canada who supports the right of Israel to exist is, by that communicated belief, alone, to be legitimately termed a “racist”. In order to have that issue decided, Mr. Rotberg has made a Complaint to the Human Rights Commission to see whether he is the racist, or the store employees are the racists for exposing him to violence for his legitimate beliefs.
We would be pleased to fax a copy of the Ontario Human Rights Commission Complaint, now filed, and heading for mediation and then a Hearing, if not settled.
Chapters/Indigo banned the book and returned all copies when Rotberg demanded that Heather Reisman of Indigo retract her company’s allegation in a press release that he had made (anti-Muslim) “racist” remarks. The website states that the book is “unavailable” and Indigo will not even sell it on its website.
This complaint raises the important legal question of whether radical Islamists (and over-compliant corporate executives) who, objecting to an author because he supports the “existence” of Israel as a Jewish homeland, and then make bogus claims of racism, calculated to expose him to violence and censorship, are themselves guilty of racism proscribed by the Ontario Human Rights Act.
Are the majority of Canadian Jews, whose religious beliefs include the belief that Israel has always been the Jewish homeland, to be seen as “racists” if they say so publicly or in print?
p.s. My new book, Second Generation Radical, is available for free download (donation to Scholars for Peace in the Middle East requested but not mandatory) on my website: http://www.howardrotberg.ca
Press Release 2:
Howard Rotberg, author of The Second Catastrophe: A Novel about a Book and its Author (Mantua Books) and the collection of essays, Second Generation Radical: The Struggle against the Second Holocaust, is one of the most innovative of Second Generation authors writing today. His work emphasizes not the need for healing, but instead the need for action. In this way, he has challenged Second Generation Jews in an original and compelling way. See http://www.howardrotberg.ca
Howard Rotberg has published widely in newspapers and magazines and his first book, the novel, The Second Catastrophe was published in Canada by Mantua Books (available on his website); he has chosen to publish his new book, Second Generation Radical: The Struggle Against the Second Holocaust as an on-line downloadable book, downloadable in PDF files. Rather than charge money to be paid to himself, he has decided to use this new book as a fundraiser for a very worthwhile cause. At some later date, it may be published in hard copy, but for now there exists the opportunity to raise money for an important organization, called Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
We are now witnessing dangerous moves by some academics, media union members and civil servant unions, especially in England, to attempt boycotts against Israel and even Israeli academics (the only academics in the Middle East who in fact have full freedom – and make use of it liberally – to criticize their own government policies). Scholars for Peace in the Middle East is an organization of academics who seek to counter some of the worst excesses of the opponents of the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. As stated on their website:
SPME Mission
Our mission is to inform, motivate, and encourage faculty to use their academic skills and disciplines on campus, in classrooms, and in academic publications to develop effective responses to the ideological distortions, including anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist slanders, that poison debate and work against peace. SPME welcomes scholars from all disciplines, faiths groups and nationalities who share our desire for peace and our commitment to academic integrity and honest debate.
SPME believes there is room for negotiation. SPME is trying to counterbalance the well-documented and increasing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces that have made their way to the college campuses today, as SPME believes they do not contribute to peace for anyone affected.
In order to assist the fine academics who are doing the important work of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Mr. Rotberg is requesting that those who download his new book make a voluntary donation of $22. for the book ( or $1. per chapter) to SPME, using the link on his website. The page of Howard Rotberg’s website which contains the chapters of the new book, and contains the donations link for SPME is:
http://www.secondgenerationradical.com/freeform_3.html
Thank you.
The story of the “banning” of the novel, The Second Catastrophe, can be found in Chapters 2 and 12 of Second Generation Radical
Howard Rotberg may be contacted at Howard@Brantcord.com.
Good news! – The website, without much publicity, is already averaging in the last month about 20 hits a day, so thank you to all for spreading the message!
3. A Request:
Do you have time sometime to call Sorya Gaulin, the Media Relations Director at Chapters (416-364-4499) to ask her for a comment on the Human Rights case and the other law suit by the Publisher? In Canada, everyone is afraid of them, because they have 73% of the retail book market, and every newspaper needs their advertising dollars, and so they feel that they can do whatever they want. A call from foreign press, or Canadian organizations, at least shows somebody is paying attention……
Thanks,
Howard
Oh my god loved reading this post. I added your feed to my reader!