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Thank you to all who've offered their support one way or another re the attempt to, in effect, ban my writing from north of the 49th parallel. As is to be expected, a few cracks in strategy are now beginning to emerge. Kathy Shaidle quotes advice from a friendly lawyer:
I wanted to let you know that linking to non-public officials who may be involved in this process could make things worse. Even if you do not live in Canada, at best it will increase the sympathy of the Tribunal to the complainants. It doesn’t matter if you’re not officially affiliated with Steyn, because they can use it as an example of harrassing behaviour that his articles and books are encouraging.
Kathy says: "Screw that." And I'm inclined to agree, albeit more wussily.
First, as I understand the law (at least according to the high-priced advice of my hotshot QC), it is not possible to be in "contempt of court" in regard to one of these Human Rights Commissions. And, even if it was, along with George Jonas and David Warren and other sane observers, I have been opposed to the HRCs in principle my entire adult life and a two-minute Lexis Nexis search will turn up any number of quotes. So if contempt for the process is likely to increase "the Tribunal"'s "sympathy" to the complainants, it's way too late.
Second, it's worth considering the logic of that lawyer's advice. He's saying that, if we make nice, we might get a fair trial and be acquitted. Sorry, that would be the worst possible outcome. It would legitimate the process, and the usual pussies at The Toronto Star et al would say: See, it proves there's no threat to freedom of speech from the HRC shtick. After all, if a notorious hatemonger like Steyn can get a fair shake, what's the problem?
Here's my bottom line: I don't accept that free-born Canadian citizens need the permission of the Canadian state to read my columns. What's offensive is not the accusations of Dr Elmasry and his pals, but the willingness of Canada's pseudo-courts to take them seriously. So I couldn't care less about the verdict - except insofar as an acquittal would be more likely to bolster the cause of those who think it's entirely reasonable for the state to serve as editor-in-chief of privately owned magazines. As David Warren put it, the punishment is not the verdict but the process. To spend gazillions of dollars to get a win on points would do nothing for the cause of freedom of speech: It would signal to newspaper editors and book publishers and store owners that it's more trouble than it's worth publishing and printing and distributing and displaying anything on this subject, and so it would contribute to the shriveling of freedom in Canada.
This is a political prosecution and it should be fought politically. The "plaintiffs" certainly understand that, ever since the day they went in to see Ken Whyte and demanded money from Maclean's. I want the constitutionality of this process overturned, so that Canadians are free to reach the same judgments about my writing as Americans and Britons and Australians and it stands or falls in the marketplace of ideas. The notion that a Norwegian imam can make a statement in Norway but if a Canadian magazine quotes that statement in Canada it's a "hate crime" should be deeply shaming to all Canadians.
This morning I spent 20 minutes mulling over a couple of offers for overseas rights to America Alone from the Islamic world. It seems that Muslim publishers from Turkey to Indonesia are more robust than Osgoode Hall law students. What a sad comment on the decayed Dominion.
Meanwhile, as I've said before, the best way to show support is to support the beleaguered publishers by taking out a subscription to Maclean's for you or a friend. US and overseas wannabe-subscribers have told us they're having a bit of difficulty getting the website form to acknowledge non-Canadian postal codes. If you have trouble, send us the details and we'll make sure Maclean's sort it out when the Subscription Dept wallahs return to the office on Christmas Bank Holiday First Thursday After Hogmanay, or whenever folks go back to work in Toronto.
Light a candle for free speech in Canada this Christmas. And if your tree catches fire and burns the house down, report it to the British Columbia HRC as a hate crime.
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