Stelmach 's Shakey Grasp on Human Rights

http://ezralevant.com/2009/04/ed-stelmach-puts-lindsay-black.html

From Ezra Levant's book Shakedown.

Ed Stelmach puts Lindsay Blackett in his place
By Ezra Levant on April 28, 2009 3:13 PM

Ed Stelmach, Alberta's weak premier, shows he's still strong when it comes to pushing his MLAs around. Today he put that uppity cabinet minister Lindsay Blackett (at left) back in his place.

For months, Blackett had been musing about reforming Alberta's out-of-control human rights commission -- the one that put me through a 900-day prosecution for publishing some cartoons, and the one that sentenced an Alberta pastor to a lifetime speech ban about gay marriage, even banning him from giving church sermons or writing private e-mails about it.

Here are Blackett's bold comments in the Calgary Sun, just two months ago:

"People have the right to say what they believe and Albertans strongly believe in that right," says Lindsay.

"We've got to try and find what was the purpose of the human rights commission to start with back in 1972."

"For me, it's back to the future and the simplicity of what the human rights commissions is supposed to be. It was originally just intended to provide protection against discrimination on grounds of race, colour, creed, religion and so on with respect to employment, accommodation and access to services. That's it."

"It wasn't about hurt feelings. The reason a lot of human rights commissions are disrespected across the country is because they've forgotten that.

"We want the commission to be a quasi-judicial body that has some teeth, that has some credibility but doesn't operate like a kangaroo court."

..."People shouldn't feel they can't come to Canada, like a university professor who talks about a subject matter and then there are reprisals," says the cabinet minister.

"They should have the ability to say what they say and somebody should have their ability to have the counter argument. That is what a free and open society does. Let's get away from trying to mediate everybody's feelings."

Lindsay talks about being turned down by a girl at a school dance with all his pals watching.

"You feel about two inches tall. I guess maybe I should have taken her to the Human Rights Commission because I had hurt feelings. Where does it end?"

His plans have not been taken to Tory MLAs for a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but he is preparing and sounds confident.

"We haven't talked about it at caucus or cabinet yet, but I've already gone through a few steps. Generally there's support, the support to make a change and do something and not just sit back and say because it's a tough subject we should stay away from it.

"I don't think provisions for more freedom of speech are a problem. I think people on both sides of the political spectrum appreciate it."

That's pretty good stuff -- he even calls his own agency a "kangaroo court".

Blackett said all of this in public. And now Stelmach is rubbing his face in it, refusing Blackett to bring in these reforms.

How can Blackett not resign? He has publicly denounced his own agency, and outlined its problems, but his premier refuses to act. How can he administer something he knows is unjust?

I know why Stelmach wants to keep Blackett on the job -- because Blackett is black, and thus gives the government a politically correct patina. Stelmach wants Blackett to smile -- but not to think. He's window-dressing. The one thing Blackett has worked on the past year, the one thing he stuck his neck out for, is the one thing that his own premier has sand-bagged him on.

Here are the changes that Stelmach approved. He's actually giving the HRC a $1.7 million raise.

That's right. In the face of their abusive conduct, their bullying and censoring, their Islamic fatwa against me for publishing a cartoon, and their atheist fatwa against Rev. Boissoin, he's actually rewarding them with a 25% pay hike.

Look at the bottom of that backgrounder if you want to see just how dense Stelmach is. In his rationale for clotheslining Blackett's proposals to dump the censorship provision, Stelmach writes this incomprehensible bumf:

Alberta's human rights legislation will balance freedom of speech with our responsibility to others.

Huh? I know about my freedom of speech. It is an ancient, inalienable right. It happens to be enshrined in Canada's Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights. But this "responsibility to others"? That's a legal concept now? So my freedom of speech -- my right to publish a magazine, Rev. Boissoin's right to give a sermon -- is limited by some new responsibility to -- I love this part -- "others"?

So I can't publish a magazine if someone "other" than me doesn't like it. So Rev. Boissoin can't give a sermon if someone "other" than him doesn't like it.

And then there's this gem:

Jurisdictional issues are complex, but recognizing the responsibilities that come with freedom of expression is also important.

That's not just grammatically novel, it's legal junk. I've read our Charter a dozen times. Where is the list of responsibilities that I have to submit to before Stelmach will let me have my freedom of expression?

Hey, don't knock Stelmach. As he boasts -- in the weirdest, most self-conscious "official biography" I've ever read -- he almost went to law school. I know some people who boast they went to law school. I know some folks who boast they didn't go to law school. I've never met anyone so insecure intellectually, with such an inferiority complex, that they say they almost went, in some sort of plea to be accepted by the cool kids. That's just weird.

But when you listen to him talk about human rights -- listen to this audio clip of him in the last election -- you can understand.

Look, the premier doesn't have to be the smartest man in the province. He can hire the smartest men in the province. He just needs to show some judgment and leadership. Instead, I really think he wrote this incoherent crap himself.

My favourite fabrication has to be this one:

Government found that removing "publications" from the Act could have serious consequences.

That's just a lie. Ontario and other provinces' HRCs don't have "publications" in their censorship laws. In fact, even the abominable section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act only applies to the Internet and telephones, not to publications. I'm not saying that's any better. I'm just saying that it's a lie to suggest that there are "serious consequences" to removing this censorship power -- other than the serious consequence of freedom.

Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Stelmach has made Alberta the worst-governed province in Canada. That was evident in his recent budget -- a $5-billion deficit when oil is still at $50/barrel. Ralph Klein chalked up back-to-back billion-dollar surpluses when oil was in the $30 range. But then Ralph didn't have Stelmach's brainwave of driving energy companies to Saskatchewan through punitive royalty schemes. That province is growing, not in a recession like Alberta is. Stelmach spends $11,000 per man, woman and child in Alberta. "Liberal" Dalton McGuinty spent $8,500/person, and Bob Rae's biggest budget as NDP premier of Ontario only spent $5,300 adjusted for inflation.

My point is that Stelmach isn't just stupid (and as his bio suggests, extremely sensitive about it), but he's hardly a conservative.

Alberta Tories are rarely conservative when it comes to spending -- just like with Hollywood celebrities, being rich is a good solution to making stupid decisions.

But Alberta Tories generally have some common sense on more basic issues, like freedom of speech. Lindsay Blackett had that common sense. But Ed Stelmach cut him down to size today.

It's a political and personal humiliation for Blackett, but who cares -- he can resign if he doesn't like it. The rest of us Albertans have nowhere to go to escape from Stelmach's blunders.

Send a note of consolation to Blackett, by clicking here. Ask him how he can continue to serve as minister of what he called a kanagaroo court, now that Stelmach has vetoed his key recommendation.

And as to Stelmach himself -- why waste your time writing a letter? If he ignores his only black cabinet minister on human rights, why would he listen to you?