By Peter J. Smith
OTTAWA, July 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Free Dominion, a Canadian conservative web forum, has been targeted via the Canada's Human Rights Commission (HRC) over allegations the conservative site promotes "hate speech."
"We have been waiting for six and a half years and the day has finally arrived, somebody is going to try to silence Free Dominion using the Canadian Human Rights Commission," Mark Fourier quipped in posting the letter. "Somebody has likely decided that because they can't defeat some argument presented by someone at Free Dominion they will instead try to silence the whole site. It isn't going to work."
A redacted copy of the letter sent by the HRC has been posted on the Free Dominion website (freedominion.ca) informing the conservative site of the complaint and that it has the option to settle before the investigation proceeds further. (http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=84457)
While the right of citizens to exercise free speech used to be a hallmark of free democracies, Canada's Human Rights Commissions have taken to determining what ideas Canadian citizens may communicate with each other or with whom Canadians may freely associate.
Connie Wilkins of Free Dominion spoke with LifeSiteNews.com about the human rights complaint filed with the HRC by a certain"Ms. Gentes" accusing the site of promoting "hate speech" although the HRC has refused to say what protected groups are offended.
Wilkins told LifeSiteNews.com that the HRC claimed it sent the full complaint via Canada Post on June 9 with signature required. However, Free Dominion had received no word of this complaint until yesterday evening, when they received a second letter from the HRC telling them to respond to the complaint of "Ms. Gentes" by July 18, the very day they were required to respond.
After explaining the situation to an HRC official, Wilkins was told only that Free Dominion was accused of "hate speech" under Sec. 13 of the Human Rights Act and that they would resend the original complaint. While the officer said there were specifics in the complaint, he refused to mention them and said they would be found in the original complaint which they should receive Monday.
"It's frightening," Wilkins said commenting on the way the HRC has used allegations of "hate speech" to shut down the viewpoints of conservatives and Christians, such as Christian printer Scott Brockie and other individuals with smaller resources to defend themselves than Free Dominion. (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/apr/04041604.html)
Wilkins explained that Free Dominion (freedominion.ca) is "an online meeting place for conservatives across the country to get together, strategise, plan, and do everything."
"They prefer it when conservatives are isolated from one another and can't talk and organise" to oppose the leftist agenda, Wilkins continued. One Free Dominion project was helping organise Canadians to vote to abolish abortion as the number one wish for the CBC's Great Canadian Wish Contest done in cooperation with Facebook. (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07070305.html)
"I think the most significant thing about this is how much in the dark we are being kept," said Wilkins. "I mean you would think that if you're being charged with something and there is an allegation against, the first thing that they would do is tell you."
"There have been a lot of people rallying around us already," said Wilkins. "I think that it will be good if people start reporting this and show what the [Human Rights Commissions] do. A lot of Canadians don't realise this. They hear hate crimes laws and think that's a really good thing. They don't understand it's used as a club."
Wilkins said Free Dominion will fight the complaint all the way.
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