CONSERVATIVE WEBSITE HOSTS MARK AND CONNIE FOURNIER WIN 2009 GEORGE ORWELL FREE SPEE

Written by Paul Fromm

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 09:22

*Conservative Website Hosts Mark and Connie Fournier Win 2009 George Orwell Free Speech Award* ** *VICTORIA, October 10*. While many Canadians travelled to see friends and relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend, over 125 free speechers from as far away as Hawaii jammed a hall for food, fellowship and the 24th Annual George Orwell Free Speech Awards. This year's recipients were Mark and Connie Fournier, the former owners of freedominion.ca, a conservative website in existance since 2001. They have the unique distinction of being the victims of no fewer than three defamation suits at the hands of the ultra litigious Richard Warman, the chronic Canadian human rights complaints filer. For the past three years, the Fourniers and many of their posters have fought a staunch battle for free speech and found themselves being spied on by blind Canadian human rights investigator (don't ask how -- we don't know and he won't tell), even *before* a complaint was filed against their site. One of their libel suits in currently stalled as the Fournier's are appealing a court decision forcing them to divulge the names of eight John Doe's, or anonymous posters of their website, to Richard Warman. The Fournier's are standing four square for privacy of people on their site. Their lawyer Barbara Kulaszka, calling from Ontario, warned: "This appeal is very important for freedom of speech and people posting anonymously on the Internet." She also praised Marc Lemire for "his tremendous stamina and sacrifice over the past six years to overturn Sec. 13. It always falls to individuals to carry the heavy burden," she said. Hosted by Douglas Christie and his Canadian Free Speech League, the Orwell dinner featured webmaster Marc Lemire. Marc gave a powerful power point presentation of the struggle against Sec. 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act and his recent victory, when Member Athanasios Hadjis ruled the Internet cewnsorship section unconstitutional. The CHRC is appealing (seeking judicial review) of this decision. Marc revealed further CHRC dirty tricks, including a cozy relationship with Canada Post which resulted in the closing of at least one person's post office box on nothing more than the allegation that he'd run afoul of Sec. 13. Mr. Christie warned: "The fight for free speech is not the fight of a generation or even a lifetime." Also present was webmaster Arthur Topham of Quesnel who is being victimized by Harry Abrams, a Victoria B'nai Brith operative, and B'nai Brith in a Sec. 143 complaint about his criticism of Zionism and Israel. Both the CFSL and CAFE have "interested party" or intervenor status in this upcoming battle,. scheduled to open in Victoria, December 14. Representing the Canadian Association for Free Expression, Paul Fromm, the 1994 George Orwell Award winner, explained the travails of math lecturer Terry Tremaine, another Warman victim, who faces a preliminary hearing in Regina, October 19 on Warman-instigation Sec. 319 "hate law" charges about postings Mr. Tremaine made about Jews and national socialism. He was prosecuted under Sec. 13 on another Warman complaint and fined $4,000 and gagged for life (a "cease and desist" order) in 2006. Warman's complaints led to his losing his job at the University of Saskatchewan. CAFE has been raising money for Mr. Tremaine's defence.

 

ITALIAN PM DENOUNCES MULTI-CULTURALISM!

Written by Paul Fromm

Monday, 12 October 2009 05:33

Italian PM denounces multi-culturalism! [image: xx] The Italian PM is one of the most vilified world leaders in the “mainstream media.” But Silvio wears their hatred as a badge of honor. Silvio Berlusconi has united a large swath of Italian political parties and rules in a coalition with the right-wing secessionist League of the North. Berlusconi’s “People of Freedom” party won 29 of Italy’s 72 seats in the 2009 EU election. The League of the North won 9, while 13 seats went to centrist parties. Of the top four EU countries, Italy’s delegation is dramatically more conservative than Britain, France, or Germany. From British Source. Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday defended a remark he made that Milan ‘’seemed like an African city” because of the number of foreigners in the streets. ”I took a photograph of reality by referring to a walk through a central street in Milan where I saw 60% of people were foreigners and 40% were Italian,” Berlusconi said. ”I asked myself if this is the Italy of the future that Italians want: the answer is no”. The premier first made the comment as he highlighted the government’s crack-down on illegal immigration on Thursday evening ahead of this weekend’s European Parliament elections. He said he ”could not accept” that Italian cities, including Milan, seem African rather than European.

 

INTERNET CENSORSHIP AND SECTION 13 BLASTED IN PARLIAMENT

Written by Paul Fromm

Thursday, 08 October 2009 18:00

*Internet censorship and Section 13 blasted in Parliament* Video is available online http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Parlvu/ContentEntityDetailView.aspx?ContentEntityId=5071 YouTube versions are available [here] and [here] On Monday, October 5, 2009, journalist Mark Steyn and Blogger Ezra Levant testified before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. During their hour long testimony, they blasted internet censorship and Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The testimony by Steyn and Levant was great and covered many of the abuses of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and their ilk. There was some testimony about the Lustig (Ouwendyk) decision concerning Richard Warman’s actions, but it appears that there might be a misreading of that decision. At no point did Lustig made any determinations on the constitutionality of Section 13. The Tribunal in Ouwendyk ruled that Mr. Warman’s posting on Stormfront and VNN are “..both disappointing and disturbing.” Further Mr. Warman’s postings “…could have precipitated further hate messages in response.” The only positive decision on the constitutionality of Section 13, was in the Lemirecase. Where Member Hadjis found that “that s. 13(1) infringes on Mr. Lemire’s freedom of expression guaranteed under s. 2(b) of the Charter, and that this infringement is not demonstrably justified under s. 1 of the Charter.” “I call on this Parliament to assert its oversight role and to compel a full inquiry onto the commission; its investigators, and their membership of nazi websites; their conflicts of interest; their contamination of evidence, and their relationship with Richard Warman. Section 13’s underlying philosophy is incompatible with a free society. And its use by agents of the human rights commission has been corrupted and diseased beyond salvation. It is time for the people’s representatives in parliament to defend real human rights and end this grotesque spectacle.” Mark Steyn Bravo to Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant! ----------------------------------------- Human Rights Commission challenged over investigative powers By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service. October 4, 2009 http://www.canada.com/news/Human+Rights+Commission+challenged+over+investigative+powers/2069087/story.html Two free-speech crusaders appealed to a parliamentary committee Monday to do its part to strip the Canadian Human Rights Commission of its power to investigate complaints of online hate, alleging that it is bad law that has been "corrupted and diseased beyond salvation." … Steyn asserted that "psychologically disturbed" employees of the commission have been influenced by a former employee, Richard Warman, who has filed just about all of the complaints that the commission has received involving online hate in recent years. Steyn and Levant on free speech, and what MPs are thinking of doing about it The free speech advocates testify before the House of Commons Justice Committee by John Geddes on Monday, October 5, 2009. MACLEANS http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/05/steyn-and-levant-on-free-speech-and-what-mps-are-thinking-of-doing-about-it/ They put on the anticipated lively show as the committee launched deliberations on Section 13. At one point, Steyn called the human rights commission’s investigators “psychologically disturbed.” Levant catalogued allegations of outrageous entrapment techniques he says have been used by the commission in an “out of control” hunt for hate-speakers to drag before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. … “I suspect that a groundswell of caucus support could likely move this matter onto the government agenda,” Rathgeber said after the appearance by Steyn and Levant. The government’s willingness to move on the issue has been far from clear in the past. Early this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he had no plans to amend the act. Even if Rathgeber is right that Harper, and perhaps Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, would now be prepared to take action if enough MPs pushed them, there’s still the question of where the opposition parties stand. They are pundits, hear them roar! – Liveblogging Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant at the Justice committee by Kady O'Malley on Monday, October 5, 2009, MACLEANS http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/05/they-are-pundit-hea-them-roar-liveblogging-mark-steyn-and-ezra-levant-at-the-justice-committee/ 3:33:14 PM A quick recap of the surprise decision by a CHRT panelist earlier this year, in which he wrote that the section in question may, in fact, be unconstitutional, and he then moves onto Richard Warman — the “rich white lawyer” – hardly, Levant points out, the archetypical minority that the CHRC ostensibly purports to represent and defend – responsible for so many S13 complaints. The whole thing quickly turns into what is, to any regular reader of his screeds, a familiar diatribe against the aforementioned complainant, and, indirectly, the CHRC itself for previously employing him, and now “paying his expenses”. 3:36:05 PM Wifi hacking! Scullduggery! More claims that ITQ doesn’t believe have been conclusively proven other way — yes, that’s true; Levant notes that the “official” status of the subsequent investigation is “unsolved”, but claims that the CHRC remains the main suspects. Instead of cleaning up this “filthy mess”, Jennifer Lynch — the chair, who, he notes, was appointed by the Conservatives — *defends it*. Even pundits have (human) rights Mon, Oct 5 2009 | Ottawa Citizen http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/thegargoyle/archive/2009/10/05/even-pundits-have-human-rights.aspx The opening statements were nothing new. Essentially, what was at issue was the status of the notorious s.13 , and a decision by a human rights tribunal earlier this year that suggested that the section in question may, in fact, be unconstitutional. Levant used the occasion to grind an old axe against Richard Warman, while Steyn quoted at length a passage from Michael Ignatieff's book Human Rights as Politics and Ideology, to the effect that free speech was the bedrock of freedom. After that, it was over to the committee for some Q&A. The subsequent discussion was bedeviled by two major difficulties. The first was that most members of the committee were either unprepared, or not really paying attention. Joe Comartin in particular didn't seem to realize what the argument is, while Marc LeMay of the Bloc appeared to have not listened to anything that had happened up till his turn, when he brought up an issue that had been dealt with at length earlier on. Human rights commission 'corrupted,' critics testify Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service | National Post http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2069093 Mr. Moon, in his report, acknowledged "potential drawbacks" to relying exclusively on the Criminal Code for hate speech investigations, including a higher burden of proof and the lack of police and prosecutorial experience and resources in pursuing hate speech online. The commission responded earlier this year in a report to Parliament that recommended that the commission be stripped of its power to impose fines. The commission can also levy financial penalties of up to $10,000 for violators. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has signalled that he supports repealing the section that permits Internet probes, voting in favour of a resolution passed last fall at a Conservative party police convention Writers call for probe into human rights commission CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/05/human-rights-commission.html Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn are also calling for the elimination of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which allows the commission to investigate allegations of hate speech. "I think a very practical, doable thing for this committee and for parliament would be to repeal section 13 of the Human Rights Act altogether, to leave any hate speech prosecutions to the Criminal Code with its proper checks and balances, and frankly, to bring in a forensic audit to the Human Rights Commission to examine the allegations that I have made," Levant told the commission. Levant is alleging that members of the commission belong to neo-Nazi organization, an accusation he made in July in a National Post column. STOP CENSORSHIP … STOP SECTION 13!