We Haven't Learned Anything From The Debacles Of Various HRCs?

CONTROVERSY DOGS CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is set to tackle the thorny issue of whose story to include and whose to leave out -- a process that is causing controversy before it's even begun.
Construction of the $265-million project in Winnipeg is now underway and the museum will soon announce a cross-country "story gathering process."
"We will be talking to community groups, individuals, academics and researchers, to really start identifying what the stories are, and who the storytellers are as well," said museum spokeswoman Angela Cassie.
But some groups are already raising concerns their stories will be excluded.
Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, was worried gay and lesbian human rights would be ignored because the group was "totally omitted" from the museum's promotional materials.
"To have that totally erased was really disconcerting and alarming," said Kennedy.
After meeting with the museum's chief operating officer, she hopes the situation will be corrected.
Others such as James Kafieh worry the museum's tour will be "a public relations exercise" and will give the Jews' experience during the Holocaust disproportionate attention compared to other cases of human rights abuses.
EQUAL TREATMENT
Kafieh is the executive secretary of Canadians for Genocide Education, a coalition of 46 ethno-cultural groups including the Canadian Arab Federation, Armenian National Federation and Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations.
"It needs to be inclusive and equitable. If it focuses disproportionate attention to some cases over other cases, then what it is actually teaching us is that there is a hierarchy of human suffering, and that some human suffering is more important than other cases of human suffering; and on that basis, the museum would not be teaching us anything about human rights, it would be teaching us about racism," Kafieh said.
The museum, which is a Crown corporation, is funded primarily through federal dollars, but has also received provincial, municipal and private donations.
Chief operating officer Patrick O'Reilly is aware of the concerns and promised the museum will be independent from its biggest donors, such as Winnipeg's prominent Jewish family, the Aspers.
O'Reilly said the museum will be rigorous in its approach, and he expects controversial and conflicting points of view will be shared "as long as they are respectful."
ALTHIA.RAJ@SUNMEDIA.CA