In Ottawa, the CHRC is seen as off balance

I used to keep track of each new MP who came out in favour of repealing section 13, the censorship provision of the Canadian Human Rights Act. But last month at the Conservative Party’s policy convention in Winnipeg, every single Conservative MP voted in favour of motion P-203, which called for the repeal of section 13. Even the Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson, voted in favour of repeal.

I posted a video of that momentous vote, which you can see again, here:

I’m still going to write about MPs who do or say something encouraging, because MPs and even cabinet ministers continue to press the issue forward, even during the current Parliamentary distractions. It's just that being anti-section 13 is now pretty much conventional wisdom.

Here’s a small example: I received a personal invitation from the Foreign Minister’s office to attend his department’s event commemorating the 60^th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. (As Mark Steyn notes here, the human rights commissions are serial violators of that UN Declaration, but that’s another story!)

My point today is that the office of Lawrence Cannon specifically invited me as a counterweight to their invitation to members of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

That’s amazing.

A year ago, the CHRC would have been invited, and that would have been normal. Today, they are recognized by a cabinet minister's office as not being normal, not being the centre, not being uncontroversial, not being balanced. They are half of normal – perhaps less than half. They need a counterweight. They do not represent the whole story about human rights.

Incredibly, I was chosen as a counterbalance to them.

Let’s be real: I was specifically invited to demonstrate to everyone in attendance – especially to the CHRC – that the department of foreign affairs has views on the subject.

Unfortunately, I’m not like Jennifer Lynch, the jet-setting, five-star-hotel-staying chief commissioner of the CHRC, who can bill $5,000 or $10,000 to the taxpayer for whatever junket she fancies, so I didn’t have the budget to hop on a plane to Ottawa to attend. But it still felt pretty good to be invited.

The Foreign Minister is Lawrence Cannon. In a symbolic way, his office made a statement about freedom of speech and rule of law. It’s not his portfolio, but it was a thoughtful gesture. Why not drop him an encouraging e-mail to let him know he’s on the side of the angels here – and that he should press at cabinet for the repeal of section 13?

Here’s his e-mail, and here’s the prime minister’s, while you’re at it!