SteynOnline

As followers of the Canadian thought police will know, the March 25th hearings at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will feature employees of the Canadian Human Rights Commission being cross-examined on their dubious tactics of posting anonymously at "hate" websites. In other words, it is standard working practice to allow CHRC "investigators" potentially to create the crimes they prosecute. It would be as if Governor Spitzer had a ball with his call girl and then charged her and her agency with prostitution.

Needless to say, the "human rights" enforcers, who claim to be empowered to police not only your public expression but also your private thoughts, don't want to expose their own words, thoughts and beliefs to the same scrutiny. So they've decided to hold this important hearing in secret. Free societies do not hold secret trials except for the most serious reasons of national security: mid-level servants of the Crown who get their jollies by posing as racists on unread websites do not fall into that category. Maclean's and I believe this hearing should be open. My editors have written to the Tribunal requesting permission for me and a staff reporter to attend.

The Tribunal is now taking submissions from other parties as to why these proceedings should be open. The lady to contact - by March 17th at the latest - is Ghislaine Cyr, and you can find all the details here - including the important advice that any emails and letters to Mme Cyr should be impeccably civil. If the proceedings are opened up, it would be nice to see someone other than the Maclean's delegation on the press benches.