Liberal MP: "alarmed" by infringement of Charter; supports Martin's motion
Andrew Telegdi is the Liberal MP from Kitchener-Waterloo. He is the vice chair of Parliament's Citizenship and Immigration committee.
A partisan Conservative constituent wrote to him saying that the problem of Canada's abusive and corrupt human rights commissions was his single issue in the upcoming election campaign, and that he would vote for whichever candidate -- even the Green Party -- would reform the commissions. Here is a copy of that e-mail exchange. Some excerpts (I've put some of my favourite parts in bold):
...My reason for emailing today is to express my dismay over the revelations of wrongdoing and corruption by Human Rights Commissions both at the provincial and federal levels that Canadians have been witness to these past few months. I am disgusted and angered by what I have seen. This fiasco runs contrary to my values and spits in the face of all freedom loving Canadians.
We've seen dishonest and flagrantly illegal behavior on the part of Human Rights Commissions and their employees. That Richard Warman continues to be allowed to make Section 13 his own personal plaything destroys any notion of our country having a working justice system...
Please be advised this is the ONLY issue I'm voting on come the next election. My vote goes to the candidate/party that is doing the most to shut down these HRC boondoggles, or at the very least, repeal Section 13 of the human rights act. I am also willing to volunteer my time to support the candidate that best represents my values on this issue. I am a lifelong Conservative voter, but I'm willing to cross the floor on this issue...
To which Telegdi replied:
...like you, I am alarmed that these cases could potentially harm our principles of freedom of speech, freedom of the press and due process in law.
That is why I am supportive of my fellow Member of Parliament, Dr. Keith Martin's efforts with his Motion M-446.
...I agree with Dr. Martin that section, 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act is worded weakly and as such has enabled the commissions to move into an entirely different area of investigating, prosecuting and fining people who communicate anything that someone else takes offence to.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms defines us as Canadians and makes Canadians who came from all over the world equal before the law. We have the Charter to protect our human rights and civil liberties and the word and spirit of the Charter is a central guiding principle in drafting laws. That is why I support Dr. Martin's motion to repeal this section as it infringes on those rights that we as Canadians hold so dear.
There's a lot to be said for both letters. The long-time Conservative who wrote his e-mail certainly knew how to get Telegdi's attention. Telegdi has slowly but steadily increased his vote tally over the last several elections, but the offer of a vote -- and a campaign worker -- is a serious offer.
And Telegdi's response was spot on -- referring not only to the threat to free speech, but also to the CHRC's lack of due process.
I imagine that most of my readers are from the Conservative side of the aisle. But, as Keith Martin, the Canadian Association of Journalists, PEN Canada and so many others have demonstrated, this is a non-partisan issue. It's about our fundamental rights as Canadians. So with that in mind, I would invite you to send Telegdi a note of encouragement, even if you disagree with him on every other political issue. Click here to send him an e-mail.
We're building a rainbow coalition here, and it's coming along. Another Liberal joining our quorum is something to rejoice about -- there are still plenty of Liberal MPs who remember that their party's name comes from the latin word for freedom.
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