Steyn on Lemire, Steacy and Rob Nicholson

Here is Mark Steyn's new column from Maclean's. How many weeks in a row can I keep saying it's his best yet? Some of my favourite parts are:

So, in order to goad their target into saying something just a teensy-weensy bit offensive, both the chief investigator, Dean Steacy, and the "complainant," Richard Warman, began logging on to Mr. Lemire's site under their respective aliases. I say "respective aliases" but at one point Mr. Warman was logging on to Internet "hate sites" under Mr. Steacy's secret identity, "jadewarr." He'd misplaced some "hate message" or other, and so strolled over to the commission and was allowed to use the government's computers, passwords and covert hate-site membership ("jadewarr") until he'd found what he was looking for. Richard Warman is supposed to be a private citizen who has filed a "complaint," yet he's allowed full access to the state's investigation. If Mr. Warman got mugged, would he be permitted to wander into the Ottawa police forensics lab and fiddle around with hair and fibre samples from the scene? Dean Steacy denied in court that there was any collusion between the CHRC and their lone plaintiff, and one can see his point: who needs to "collude" when Mr. Warman enjoys open access to the system?

Does every Canadian citizen have the right to monkey around the CHRC computers on complaints they've got an interest in? If so, I'll be in at 10 a.m. next Thursday to poke around the files relating to the Maclean's case. If I need to bring two pieces of picture ID, do let me know.

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Although the CHRC behaves like a rogue agency way beyond political accountability, it remains formally the responsibility of the minister of justice. So what does Rob Nicholson have to say about his Frankenstein monster? Sadly, he seems to have had reconstructive surgery and entered the witness protection program. Way back on Jan. 22, I sent a written request for an interview with the minister, copied to his media relations honcho, Christian Girouard. Didn't hear anything. But that's okay. They're busy people, and I'm a patient chap. As the months ticked by, I sent a written reminder to M. Girouard. And, eventually, on Friday, March 28, we called, and were told that my "interview request" was in the system and the fellow to speak to was Darren Eke. A message was left on Mr. Eke's voicemail, but he never returned it. So on March 31, we called again, and were assured by his assistant Megan that a reply was en route via email. Still hasn't come.

I usually manage to get a response from the White House, the Pentagon, Downing Street, even Buckingham Palace within less than three months. I don't mean I call up and demand to be put through to the Queen, but her press office is usually willing to have a word with the press, that being their job. By contrast, the Justice Department appears to have a media relations office that prefers not to relate to the media. Look, maybe it would be quicker if Mr. Eke or M. Girouard just forwarded their reply via Dean Steacy and he could access that lady across the street's computer and post it as "jadewarr" for me to read on manitobawhitesupremacists.com.

I believe that human rights commissions are being sufficiently denormalized in the court of public opinion that it's time to put pressure on politicians to do something about it. In other words, we should continue to expose the corrupt practices of the Dean Steacys and Richard Warmans of this world. But we should start to move the pressure to the people who are supposed to be in charge of the whole thing -- and, in the case of the CHRC, that's Rob Nicholson. I'm a Conservative partisan, but my love is not so blind that I can defend Nicholson's inaction -- though, given that a lawyer from Nicholson's department is actively intervening for the CHRC in the Lemire case, I don't think we can even say the Tories are neutral or inactive in this matter.

I know why Nicholson wants to keep his head down here -- he doesn't want a controversy, and he certainly doesn't want to be labelled "anti-human rights" if he abolished the commission, or even amends section 13, the thought crimes section. But that would be a fake political scandal, for the HRCs only concern themselves with fake human rights these days, such as the right not to be offended.

The real scandal is how the HRCs operate, and how they have arrogated unto themselves the power to censor political and religious thought in Canada. If Nicholson won't do the right thing and rein in the commissions, then he ought to wear their misbehaviour.

My goal -- and I hope it's yours -- is to make the scandal of propping up these corrupt commissions far worse than any fake scandal that would come from shutting them down. Steyn's pointed column is a step down that road.