Keith Martin responds to Justice Dept. brief

After Question Period on Thursday, Liberal MP Keith Martin responded
to the Justice Department brief that defendsthe anti-free speech 
subsection 13 (1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

"Were you shocked to find out that the Justice Department's
 own filings said truth and fair comment are no defence?" 

"Well, there were a lot of things in the Justice  Department's missive
 which I find absolutely shocking," said Martin. " Not only that but about
blithely talking about restrictions on freedom of expression.  That
has absolutely nothing to do with hate crimes, nothing to do with hate
crimes and nothing to do with hate speech whatsoever.  So the Justice
 Department's missive really was a trampling of basic human rights, human
 rights that are enshrined in our Charter and I was very disturbed by
 their intervention.  So I'm hoping that our Justice Committee actually
reviews the Commission and hopefully they'll be able to -- that we'll be
able to bring in members from the Justice Department to be able to
account for their statements."

Martin has sent letters to all the members of the Justice Committee in hopes it will
hold televised hearings that will not only examine s. 13 (1) but also how the
Canadian Human Rights Commission operates. That will include how the commission handles
evidence, whether investigators are using assumed names to plant hate messages and
entrap people, and the way respondents are treated as if they are guilty until proven
innocent.


"All these things are very disturbing and that's why I'm
bringing this up so that we can take a look at the Canada Human Rights
Act and also the Canada Human Rights Commission and the committee is a
master of its own destiny.  It will do what it feels it should do and
it's up to the members.  But I'm almost certain that they will take a
look at all of those and do a very profound dissection of the Canada
 Human Rights Commission, of what they're doing, of what they're not doing
 in the defence of the true rights of our country."
 Question: "The first thing that happened when you raised the issue of
 repealing Section 13-1 of the Human Rights Act was you were linked with
 white supremacists and you were out there for people to support the
 KKK.  Do you think the Conservative government is afraid to even touch
 this issue because they're afraid of being associated with the same
 thing?" 

"I think Mr. Harper has told Mr. Nicholson, our Justice
Minister, to put a muzzle on their MPs.  But the Conservative MPs, as
many members in my caucus, have expressed deep concerns about where the
Canada Human Rights Commission has gone.  They have expressed a great
deal of support for my motion to remove Section 13-1 from the Act.  And I
think that's a fair thing to do would be to have this out and open.
Have a public hearing through the Justice Committee and televise it so
that Canadians coast to coast can hear those who believe that the status
quo is acceptable and those of us who believe that the Human Rights
Act has to be amended to ensure that we have freedom of speech because in
my view freedom of speech is being trampled in Canada right now. 


What are the chances that the Justice Committee will take a
 look at this because they've been a pretty dysfunctional committee up
 until now?

I think -- I've spoken to members on the Justice
Committee and there's a great deal of support across party lines to deal with
this because members on the Justice Committee recognize that the
removal of Section 13-1 and an investigation of the Canada Human Rights
Commission is in support of that fundamental human right, the right to
freedom of speech.  And they recognize that it is our responsibility to
defend this right, a right that Canadians bled for and fought for over two
world wars and that it is our responsibility in this House of Commons
to defend that right. 


Question: Now at the very end of the Justice Department brief it
 talks about how the law is settled as if to even inquire about this or to
 take it up to go to the Supreme Court again would be an abuse of
 process.  What do you think of that?

Well, laws can be changed and the Human Rights
Commission, Canada Human Rights Commission came about at a time with very
laudable goals.  The goals were to ensure that people had recourse if they
were being discriminated against, against employment -- in employment or
in housing.  Those are laudable goals that we embrace and fully support
but over time their actions and mandate have changed and some of the
actions that they've been taking of late have been very disturbing I
think to a lot of us and to a lot of Canadians.  So that's why I put forth
the motion to remove Section 13-1 but I think taking it to the Justice
Committee, having a public and televised assessment of the
proceedings, having an examination of the Canada Human Rights Act and the
Commission will serve the Canadian public and serve the fundamental rights that
are the pillars of our democracy.