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For those who requested it, we've posted the splendid reply to Khurrum Awan by the Hon Jason Kenney, PC, MP, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity (a government department that would have surprised Sir John A Macdonald, but this is no time to be picky). I especially like Mr Kenney's use of the word "chutzpah" to describe Mohamed Elmasry, the hater who's complaining about hate speech.
We're also posting the original letter by Khurrum Awan to Mr Kenney. Mr Awan is one of the authors of the dossier on Maclean's "Islamophobia", a remarkably totalitarian document which seeks, among other things, to criminalize discussion of TV sitcoms and novels. Where's Margaret Atwood and the gang on that last one?
Mr Awan asserts that the Secretary of State's earlier comments constitute "undue interference with a legal proceeding" and that, since he and his chums announced their suit, the various responses published by Maclean's have "tainted" their complaints and are thus "contrary to the human rights code which prohibit retaliation against a complainant".
Golly, that sounds awfully serious. Are we in contempt of "court"? Oh, dear. I fear the odds of our conviction may have increased dramatically - which is quite a neat trick on our part, given that there's a 100 per cent conviction rate to begin with. At this rate, it's going to be like one of the goofier banana-republic trials where you get both hanged and shot.
Mr Awan's illiberalism is breathtaking in its ambition. But he has the wind of Canadian "multiculturalism" at his back and he may yet pull it off.
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