Abolish human rights commission? Not so fast.

By Janet Epp Buckingham and ChristianWeek | February 15, 2008

My inbox has been popping up with daily emails about the destruction of freedom of expression in Canada. Campaigns have been launched to get rid of provincial human rights commissions.

But I say, "Not so fast."

In the midst of all the hoopla, another message came my way. Pro-life groups denied status on university campuses are considering complaints to provincial human rights commissions about discriminatory treatment.

Maybe human rights commissions aren't so bad after all.
Two cases have dominated the debate on the appropriate limits of freedom of expression. One involves Macleans' publication of a chapter of Mark Steyn's book America Alone. The other involves Ezra Levant, publisher of the now defunct Western Standard, for re-publishing the so-called Danish cartoons.

The Steyn article was titled provocatively, "The Future Belongs to Islam." Steyn is usually provocative and this article is no exception.

Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, says the article is "flagrantly Islamophobic."

But it is also WASPophobic. (WASP is an acronym for "white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.") Steyn issues a wake-up call to the Western world where women have stopped having babies. His point is that the Christian world and the Islamic world have been pushing against each other for centuries and the so-called "Christian" world (really post-Christian) is losing by attrition.

Steyn uses inflammatory words like "terrorist" and "jihad" about Muslims. But he also uses words like "childish infantilized self-absorbed society" to describe the West. His point is that western societies are apathetic, lolling about in self-indulgence.

The Muslim cartoons, published by Ezra Levant, are a different story. I sympathize with Muslims who feel their religion has been attacked when they see a cartoon of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. I mean, when we Christians see what is said to be "art" depicting a naked Jesus with an erect penis or the Virgin Mary covered in excrement or urine, don't we feel that our religion has been attacked?

My preference would be that artists, cartoonists and media publishers respect religion. But the reality of our society is that we are taught to tolerate others and that means allowing them to defame that which we hold most dear.

But at the very least, there has to be equal treatment. If Christians have been forced to endure blasphemy of our religion, other religions in Canada must do the same.

Hopefully, in the end, we will see freedom of expression triumph. Remember the Saskatchewan case where Hugh Owens faced human rights complaints for an ad for a bumper sticker featuring Bible citations with a "no gays" symbol? It was clearly offensive to gays. But the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that Owens has a right to make public statements about his beliefs even if they offend others.

Some people are using the mere fact that the commissions are considering the complaints to argue that they should be abolished. That is like saying that the courts should be shut down just because someone has sued me! Sure, it is a pain and it can be costly if you hire a lawyer to defend you. But that is what happens in a country where you have laws and courts. You may have to defend yourself against someone whose claim has little merit. Everyone deserves their day in court.

And Christians have used these same commissions to ensure that they do not face discrimination. Human rights commissions have been vigilant in protecting religious practices.

Let's not prejudge the issues that are currently before the commissions. They have their job to do. If they are truly committed to human rights, they will be sensitive to freedom of expression issues. And remember that these commissions protect religious freedom before trying to abolish them.