Sec. 13 Dead.... For Now

NOTE: This is a little screen shot heavy. Be forewarned.

On June 26, Sec. 13 of the Human Rights Act cease to exist. As our friend BCL noted however there is no reason why Sec. 13, which was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court, can not be brought back by a more enlightened government in the future. In the meantime the good folks at the now moribund Free Dominion have decided to post (a now rare) comment to celebrate the demise of Sec. 13:

It it isn't surprising that Connie would give props to Marc Lemire as Free Dominion had been on the forefront of the effort to rehabilitate Lemire's reputation, characterizing him as a free speech martyr. In fact, they went beyond this and engaged in a little bit of historical revisionism. Not only did they deny his role in the leadership of the Heritage Front from 2001 to 2005, they have all but denied that he had any significant history with the hate group. We have attempted to show them the error of their ways, but it seems they have decided to believe him rather than us. But then they aren't the only ones who have tried to help Lemire cover up a very shady past. Ezra Levant, in two interviews with Lemire, asked about the Heritage Front and did not challenge this response:

Uh, the Heritage Front uh, was active back in, uh, the the 90s and I was a young kid at the time. I had some, uh, interest in some of the things that they were doing in particularly thing like uh opposition to employment equity, things like reducing immigration. So I uh, listened to some of what they were about, and uh, I went away from it. I mean I was involved with them peripherally in my teenage years.

Well, that is partially true, as these articles indicate he was active with the Heritage Front in his teen years (he would have been 18 at the time of the 1993 photo and 19 when they were published):

It's All Over But the Crying: Lemire Loses Appeal

We at ARC believe in serendipity.

Earlier today, a new friend who's interest in the history of the far right perhaps surpasses out own sent us a link to this document:

The above Masters thesis, published in December of 1997, focuses on the Canadian racist right's use of the Internet in the 1990s. And featured prominently within the text is Marc Lemire, the Freedom-Site, and some earlier projects of Lemire's (such as The Canadian Patriots Network):

 

 

 

 

Even as early as 1997, those who were studying the racist movement in Canada noted some disturbing documents on the Freedom-Site:

One of those documents was written by Kevin Strom, a leader in the virulently racist National Alliance:

 

Nearly eight years later, this particular document resulted in a protracted legal struggle before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the Federal Court, and most recently the Federal Court of Appeals lasting an additional nine (roughly) years.

Today, it would appear that it is now all over.

Lemire Appeal: Federal Court Fallout

We've been watching how some of folks our readers are familiar with are dealing with the failed Marc Lemire appeal. Take Lemire's former Heritage Front compatriot Louis Morin:

 

 

However it didn't take too long for Marc Lemire himself, the subject of Morin's concern, to comment on the Federal Court's ruling on his appeal himself.

Suffice it to say, he isn't dealing with it well:

Tremaine Contempt Appeal Update

Terry Tremaine filed two documents last month regarding his appeal of the contempt sentence he received as a result of willfully ignoring the provisions of the Human Rights Tribunal decision. Since his previous attorney Doug Christie shuffled off his mortal coil Tremaine has hired an attorney based in Regina and looks to be trying to have the appeal moved to Regina.

Lemire Cries Uncle

We figure we'll go right to the source in this one:

Marc Lemire throws in the towel

It was only a matter of time after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld civil law controls on hate speech as constitutional in the Whatcott case, but Marc Lemire has finally admitted that his parallel attack on the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibition on Internet hate-speech (s. 13) has been gutted (‘please ignore my legal arguments found at paragraphs 84-115 of my previous Federal Court of Appeal factum’).

The background to this is that even before the SCC’s decision in Whatcott, Justice Mosley of the Federal Court reached the same conclusion in October 2012 and upheld both the finding that Marc Lemire had violated the Human Rights Act by posting online hate and that section 13 was constitutional as per the Supreme Court’s previous findings in their 1990 Taylor decision. Lemire’s appeal of that decision is ongoing and both Lemire and the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) filed supplementary legal briefs following the Whatcott decision.

Mr. Lemire caves on the now legally (even more) entrenched facts that civil controls on hate speech are reasonable limits on freedom of expression, are justifiable in a free and democratic society, and are a pressing and substantial objective to avoid the serious damage caused as history has shown. Reading bumps on people’s heads to know what their intent was is still out. Hatred and contempt as narrowly defined by the Supreme Court in Taylor have been properly interpreted by human rights tribunals.

What’s left? Not much. Weak arguments that the Tribunal was right and the Federal Court wrong that severance of the financial penalty provisions was the appropriate remedy to any concerns about them. This, despite the fact that the SCC in Whatcott specifically engages in severance of an obsolete and unused descriptive portion of the hate law to bring the Saskatchewan legislation into constitutional compliance (and modern parlance). Scrambling for a twig to latch onto after that but it’s clear the jig is up. 

Lemire’s factum is here. The Canadian Human Rights Commission’s factum in response is here. 

Lemire’s appeal was always frivolous and now following the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Whatcott, I believe it’s just vexatious. The shame is that by not seeking their costs against Lemire for continuing his appeal after the SCC has put the issue to bed, the CHRC is de facto enabling this waste of taxpayer money. All this, because Mr. Lemire wouldn’t mediate a settlement if a cease and desist order was on the table.

In the end, I think it’s safe to say that despite sharing an interest in disseminating homophobic hate propaganda, Bill Whatcott is waaay off Marc Lemire’s Christmas card list. This one, for instance though, would be quite funny.

Thanks Bill Whatcott for making this all happen. You sir are a superstar!

Mr. Warman seems more whimsical than we are in his choice of "funky music."

We're more inclined to gloat:

Lemire Appeal Dismissed

Marc Lemire.... well.... why don't we just let you, our dear readers, take a look for yourselves:

Here's an unsolicited tip. You request a stay? Might be helpful to include some evidence.

Sort of like we did regarding Lemire's affiliation with (and later leadership of) the Heritage Front.

"Marc Lemire: Summary of Information"

Just say'n....

UPDATE 1: Lemire seems upset:

And the Basis For the Lemire Appeal Is....

.... sort of pathetic.

For those readers who don't have fantastic eyesight, here it is broken down:

We've said it before here and we'll say it again.

Gotta love public documents.

Marc Lemire is Appealing

Well, not appealing in any physical sense of the word. Let's face it, the dude should lay off the French crullers.

No, Marc Lemire, former member and the last leader of the Heritage Front (despite his denial) is appealing the recent decision concerning the constitutionality of the Canadian Human Rights Act. BCL beat us to the punch on this, but he also beat Lemire to it so, we're okay with that.

June 2012 Bits and Bites

Bernie Farber wrote an excellent article on Richard Warman yesterday regarding his campaign against cyber hate and the resulting vitriol directed at him as a result:

Vilified Internet hate crusader was the real hero

Friday, June 22, 2012

By Bernie Farber, The Ottawa Citizen

With the repeal this month of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA), which dealt specifically with hate speech on the Internet, regulating poisonous and hateful attacks against minorities is now left to the Criminal Code. Where in the past S13 was a less intrusive and at times educational method of dealing with hate speech, now any such complaints will be handled by police with jail time and a criminal record as a possible outcome.

A key figure who utilized S13 to help defend ethnic and faith minorities against toxic speech is a friend and a person I consider a hero, Richard Warman. Sadly instead of gratitude Richard was victimized for his efforts.

Arthur Topham Arrested

Not sure of the details, but boneheads  are claiming online that Arthur Topham was arrested this past Wednesday:

Arthur Topham, publisher of the Radical Press website, was arrested on May 16, 2012, at 11:30 am on the Barkerville Highway near Quesnel, B.C., put in handcuffs and taken to jail. Apparently, Arthur’s home had been staked out for quite some time by the RCMP.

And the saga of Terry Tremaine continues

We are shocked! Shocked!

Terry Tremaine's lawyer (Christie we presume) thinks that the crown should just forget the whole thing and let Tremaine continue disparaging Jews and other minorities.

Well, they don't come out and say that exactly, but we're simply considering what must be the logical conclusion.

Defence wants charges stayed in online hatred case

Ken Gousseau, CTV Regina

Date: Thursday Mar. 15, 2012 5:44 PM CST

The defence for a former University of Saskatchewan lecturer accused of promoting hatred against Jews on the Internet is asking that the charges be stayed. 

Okay, We'll Bite

Alright. You're fishing for a response, here ya go.

Don't worry. All will make sense soon enough.

More of the msn, including "The National Post",  have now commented on the most recent Terry Tremaine decision. And so have our friends and benefactors at Free Dominion.

The reason for this decision, in the minds of the members and promoted by the proprietors of Free Dominion, is starting to become a tired, old refrain:

Supreme Court: CHRT Can't Impose Costs. Says Nothing About Constitutionality of Sec. 13

A number of bloggers, as we did ourselves, opined that when the Lemire case makes it to the Supreme Court, the financial penalty part would be dropped but that Sec. 13 of the Human Rights Act would be itself found to be constitutional. While we can't be certain how the Court will finally rule when presented with the Lemire case, this recent decision appears to reinforce this belief:

Human rights tribunal can’t award costs: SCC

Written by Heather Gardiner
Posted Date: October 28, 2011

In a case involving a sexual harassment complaint, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal does not have the authority to award legal costs.

Appeal of the Tremaine Decision on Monday, September 19

Our dear readers will remember that the CHRC wasn't successful in the contempt motion against Terry Tremaine. As such, an appeal of the Federal Court's decision was filed soon after

The Federal Court of Appeal has set that hearing down for Monday, September 12, 2011 at roughly 9:30am at the Pacific Centre (701 Georgia St, 6th floor) in Vancouver, BC. 

When the original hearing took place, about five of Tremaine's supporters attended the hearing. Might be interesting to see how many attend this one now that it is on the mainland.

Terry Tremaine is Appealing (Actually, CHRT is Appealing. Note Update. Then Point and Laugh At Us).

Well, not really appealing. In fact he's not at all attractive.

See what we did there? Funny? Eh? EH?

No?

Bah! We long for the Golden Age of Comedy when a good knock-knock joke would delight theatres and all the great USO Shows Bob Hope was a part of!

Anyways, Tremaine is appealing the CHRT decision it would appear.

Paul Fromm and the Fine Art of Turd Polishing

We may have engaged in a little bit of schadenfreude concerning Paulie's most recent electoral emasculation (okay, we were practically giddy). After all was said and done, a man who mocked Jason Devine for his vote tally in past elections wasn't able to win more votes than a member of the Communist Party in the most conservative province in a very conservative city.

We don't think even Paulie was so delusional as to believe he would win (though that didn't stop the self-delusion of some of his supporters) but we do think that he would be a little bit embarrassed by the outcome after all the bravado and the claims that he was going to, "stick it" to Conservative incumbent Jason Kenny. This would presume that Paulie actually possesses the dignity and self-respect that allow him to feel embarrassed. Such is not the case as he instead presents failure as success:

We think most of this is pretty self-explanatory -- Paulie is trying to trumpet the, "success" of his campaign while at the same time rationalizing why he failed -- but there are a few points that we enjoyed reading:

CHRC Appealing Tremaine Decision

Back on November 30 we and a number of mainstream media sources reported that Terry Tremaine had been found not guilty of contempt based primarily on the fact that the CHRT decision had not been filed at the Federal Court and that Tremaine had not been served with the registration order when the CHRC brought contempt charges against Tremaine. Now it looks as if that decision is being appealed:


We're not sure how this will end, but we think there's a fairly decent chance that the original decision could be overturned. Or not. We'll see soon. Either way, this is an interesting development which will no doubt cause the usual suspects some consternation.

Terry Tremaine's Motions Dismissed

Not surprisingly, Doug Christie argued that the Lemire decision regarding Section 13 should be considered in dismissing contempt charges against Terry Tremaine. The judge, however, had none of it.

Harrington writes in response:

This particular motion for show cause is limited to cease and desist. The Lemire decision relates to other aspects such as the imposition of a fine, and the Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act insofar as it relates to cease and desist orders was upheld by the Taylor decision to which I just made reference.

So Harrington echoes what many of us have suspected might happen; the penalty provision will be struck down, however the rest of Section 13 will remain in force.

Terry Tremaine in Trouble Again

Terry, Terry, Terry......

Ever consider that it is you, and not, "the Jew" who is author of your own misfortune?

Didn't think so.

Regina man accused of more racist writings

Human Rights Commission wants Terry Tremaine charged with contempt

Last Updated: Thursday, June 17, 2010 | 5:33 PM CST

A Regina man, fined $4,000 for publishing racist articles, was back in court Thursday accused of violating orders to stop posting hate literature on the internet.

Terry Tremaine, who used to work for the University of Saskatchewan as a math lecturer, was the focus of a lengthy investigation by the Canadian Human Rights Commission which culminated in a 2007 order by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

He was found to have violated the rights of Jews and blacks by exposing them, through his online writings, to hatred.

Some of his postings referred to Jews as "parasites" and "vermin," and called for the expulsion of Jews and non-white people from Canada, the tribunal ruled.

Tremaine was told to "cease the discriminatory practice", according to the Feb. 2, 2007 decision.

On Thursday, Daniel Poulin, a lawyer for the Canadian Human Rights commission, told a Federal Court judge in Saskatoon that Tremaine did the opposite.

"It is our position that Mr Tremaine did not remove the material and, in fact, continued posting after the decision was rendered," Poulin said.

The commission is trying get Tremaine charged with contempt.

Paul Fromm is with the Canadian Association for Free Expression and has assisted Tremaine with his case.

Fromm said internet writings may not fall into the definition of communicating, an essential element of the issue concerning Tremaine.

"Sending some sort of electronic signals to a website in the United States, where that is legal, does not constitute communication," Fromm said. "Communication is defined as the transfer of ideas between two people."

But Poulin said the only reason people post their opinions online is to communicate their ideas.

"It is our position of course that posting material on the internet for everybody to see it, in fact, constitutes communication," Poulin said. "In fact, that is the single most important purpose for posting on the internet, isn't it?"

The federal judge who heard the matter said a decision would come next week on whether or not Tremaine should face a charge of contempt.

Tremaine is also before the courts in Regina.

In January of 2008, police in that city laid a criminal code charge alleging Tremaine used the internet to promote hatred.

Tremaine, 61, calls himself a white nationalist. In an interview with CBC News in 2007 he said he should be free to share his views without being prosecuted.

Canadian Bar Association Supports Sec. 13

First, we'd like to mention the following event:

The Law Society of Upper Canada and the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada invite the public to attend their annual forum and reception in commemoration of National Holocaust Memorial Day

DATE:
Monday, April 12, 2010

TIME:
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Panel Discussion 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Reception

LOCATION:
The Law Society of Upper Canada 130 Queen St. West, Toronto (Enter at East doors off Nathan Phillips Square)

Is Justice an Elusive Dream?
From Nuremberg Forward – Challenges and Successes of Bringing War Criminals to Justice

Introductions by ALAIN GOLDSCHLAGER, Professor, University of Western Ontario Ontario Chair League for Human Rights

PANEL
JUSTICE MARC ROSENBERG, Ontario Court of Appeal, Moderator

HILARY EARL, Associate Professor, Nippissing University, Department of History
MATT EISENBRANDT, legal coordinator, Canadian Centre for International Justice
ROBERT PETIT, Counsel, Justice Canada, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section
DAVID MATAS, international human rights lawyer, senior legal counsel B’nai Brith Canada

Reception:
Featuring RUTH FAZAL, renowned Canadian violinist and creator of Oratorio Terezin

Light refreshments served

Admission is free -- Registration requested

To register, please visit the Law Society website at: http://ecom.lsuc.on.ca/equity or email abromberg@bnaibrith.ca

For further information contact Anita Bromberg, B'nai Brith Canada 416-633-6224, ext. 130 or abromberg@bnaibrith.ca

Anyways, on to the meat.

As BCL mentioned yesterday, the Canadian Bar Association, representing roughly 37,000 lawyers, has come out in support of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Given this reality, calling the CHRT a "kangaroo court" might be a bit misplaced, but that likely won't stop the speechies from continuing to do so.

In other Section 13 news, a number of interested parties (The League for Human Rights of B'Nai Brith Canada, Canadian Jewish Congress and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies) have submitted Notice of Motion and the Written Representations of the Proposed Intervenors to the Federal Court in the judicial review of Section 13 pertaining to the recent Lemire ruling:


Looks like things are becoming interesting.