About the Human Rights Tribunal Ruling

I'm quite sorry that I haven't taken the time to write anything about last week's decision that section 13 of the Human Rights Act is unconstitutional. The decision has already been celebrated and analyzed by much more timely, eloquent and informed bloggers. Still it's worth stating that this is a significant victory for freedom after decades of having left wing activists use the commissions as a punitive tool to beat honest Canadians into submission it's richly satisfying to see the cracks widen in this badly broken system.

In a decision released Wednesday, the commission's tribunal dismissed a complaint filed against Marc Lemire, a webmaster who runs freedomsite.org, a site that bills itself as "Canada's freedom resource center."

The complaint, which alleged that messages posted on the site were discriminatory and exposed minority groups to "hatred and contempt," was filed by Ottawa lawyer Richard Warman.

In rejecting the complaint, commissioner vice-chair Athanasios Hadjis ruled that Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act violates the Charter of Rights and Freedom, "which guarantees the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression."

This ruling creates a very significant gap in the law and now our politicians must rise to the challenge and dismantle the commissions in their entirety while still making any individuals with valid complaints aware of their options within the real court system.

The reforms can't come a minute too soon, and they shouldn't be limited to the blatant assault on free speech caused by section 13. On Tuesday the Guelph Mercury reported that an unemployed teacher is launching a complaint against a Catholic School Board policy of hiring Catholic teachers. I wonder what part of Catholic School this guy doesn't understand.