Immigration minister criticizes anti-immigrant decision by BC's HRC

Jason Kenney, the immigration minister, has issued a strong denunciation of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. In a typically Marxist decision, that tribunal has attempted to abolish Canada’s temporary foreign workers program, punishing both foreign workers and the domestic Canadian businesses that rely on them. Here’s Kenney’s statement:

Ottawa, December 14, 2008 — The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued the following statement regarding the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decision on foreign workers:

“I am very concerned by the recent decision of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal regarding wages for temporary foreign workers, particularly in light of the fact that these workers were being compensated at the same level as Canadian workers, and had voted to decertify the union that filed the complaint.

While this is a matter between the employer and its employees, we are monitoring the situation closely. Especially during a period of economic uncertainty, Canada’s economy and the success of many Canadian businesses depends, in part, on the contribution of foreign workers. We are committed to ensuring the Temporary Foreign Worker program continues to benefit workers while helping employers meet short-term labour needs when no suitable Canadian workers are available.”

Not surprisingly, the complainant in the case at hand was a labour union trying to keep competitors out of Canada. (I love the fact that the foreign workers involved decertified that union. How appalling that it was still permitted to press its case.) And even less surprisingly was the fact that the tribunal, presided over by turbo-Marxist Heather MacNaughton, agreed – and issued enormous fines against the company that hired the workers.

MacNaughton, you’ll recall, was the same B.C. human rights radical who chaired the five-day inquisition into Mark Steyn and Maclean’s magazine.

There’s nothing about which MacNaughton isn’t an expert, it seems – from publishing magazines to deciding how much foreign workers should be paid for lunch.

Here’s a quick excerpt from my discussion of MacNaughton, on the eve of Steyn’s trial:

…the queen bee of [the] human rights nannies, [is] Heather MacNaughton. MacNaughton is a social engineer of the first order. Look at this staggering monster of a ruling, in which MacNaughton single-handedly arrogates unto herself the power of the Minister of Education and Finance Minister of British Columbia.

…MacNaughton's stunning ruling issued orders to the entire ministry of education; she took a single complaint, and used it as a pretext for commandeering the whole province.

…I have no expertise on how to handle severe learning disabled students; and how to weigh their needs against every other competing need in education. Neither does MacNaughton. I have no democratic legitimacy; neither does MacNaughton. I have no accountability to the voters, I have no responsibility to make a budget work; neither does MacNaughton. I would have the humility to say "I have no clue"; and then to say "it's not my job". MacNaughton, instead, said, "I am the boss of this until I tell you otherwise."

The Canadian Human Rights Commission is still the most dangerous HRC, since it is the one most directly assaulting our core freedom, the freedom of speech, through its censorship provisions. (It’s also a menace as a major publisher of anti-Semitic hate speech on its own accord. The fact that it has 200 full-time workers prosecuting its agenda is downright terrifying.) But the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal is far and away the most radical HRC in the country, even worse than Ontario’s HRC run by Barbara Hall. I wonder if any HRC ruling could top B.C.'s McDonald's/handwashing ruling for pure, dangerous stupidity. I doubt it.

Good for Kenney for standing up to the B.C. bullies, at least verbally – though I don’t hold out much hope for Premier Gordon Campbell to do anything about his HRC.

Kenney has been one of the strongest critics of HRC abuses in Canada, including his statement this spring that the CHRC was “dangerous” to our freedoms. With it becoming clearer by the day that the federal opposition parties will not, in fact, topple the government for any reason in January, it’s time for the Conservatives to lead B.C. by example, and rein in the human rights commission within its jurisdiction -- the CHRC.

Why should B.C. take advice from the feds on cleaning up their broken HRC, when the CHRC remains unreformed itself?

I wish every federal cabinet minister was as outspoken on HRCs as Kenney is. But I do know that most of them agree with Kenney. Time for cabinet to move the issue forward.