Another cabinet minister criticizes Canadian Islamic Congress, CHRC

I share your concern with respect to the possible consequences for freedom of speech in Canada as a result of the CHRC's decision to hear complaints like the one launched by the Canadian Islamic Congress.

...given the importance of freedom of speech to democratic discourse, I believe that the CHRC should be cautious to not allow cases relating to freedom of speech to become a focal point for its work, when such matters lie outside of its established mandate.

I will bear your thoughts in mind in future discussions on this issue...

I'm impressed with Lunn's remarks. He doesn't pussyfoot around the Canadian Islamic Congress complaint -- he calls it a risk to free speech and indeed democracy. And, more importantly, he criticizes the CHRC itself, stating resolutely that scrutinizing speech is "outside" the CHRC's legal mandate.

And his last remark -- telegraphing that he'll keep talking about this issue -- is the most heartening of all.

Friends, remember our two-step plan:

1. Denormalize Canada's human rights commissions; then

2. Press legislators to act.

In the past four months, we've exposed the abuses, corruption and plain old nuttiness of Canada's HRCs. Not a day goes by without editorials and news reports on the subject. (I recommend visiting the Free Mark Steyn site for the most comprehensive daily aggregation of news and views. I used to link to all of them, but there's just too much for me to keep up!)

Now MPs and even cabinet ministers are alive to the problem -- and they're starting to speak up.

Take a moment to send a supportive e-mail to Lunn. Send one to Kenney, too. And why not send one to the Prime Minister, too.

And keep pressing your own local MP on the subject. If you get a response -- positive or negative -- send it to me, and I'll blog about it!