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World (continued)

MACLEAN S
271 MEDIA DIES IN RUSSIA
Journalistic fears; seedy
Barcelona; work kidnappings.

Interview Business
121 BONNIE HENRY 281 GENERATION WAR
Cathy Gulli talks with the 21From the Editors 31Mail Bag Boomers and young workers
virus hunter about H1Nl. S 1Seven Days 61Newsmakers vie for precious jobs.

30 I BROKE BRITANNIA
Columns
91 PAUL WELLS
Stephen Harper won't let
the opposition coalition die.
SEPTEMBER21-28, 2009 The U.K.'s economic mess.

Nature
321 THE YEAR OF THE RAT
10 I ANDREW COYNE Prepare for a winter invasion.
Ottawa politics are bankrupt. 68 I Books
Society
COVER STORY: Dan Brown's new thriller will
111 CAPITAL DIARY 34 I WWOOFIT
mysteriously sell millions.
Mitchel Raphael on feline, Travel and organic farming.
as well as political, tweets. 721TV
Curb Your Enthusiasm is Seinfe/d with a moral code.
National 73 1 Help 371 BEST GRAD SCHOOLS
141 WHAT RECESSION? Margaret Drabble gets satisfaction through jigsaw puzzles. The top professional schools.
The economy's minimal role
74 I Film 381 LAW
in the next election.
George Clooney and Matt Damon fall to earth at TIFF. School rankings; making the
17 ISHAPE UP 76 IBazaar cut; justice system in crisis.
A human rights tribunal at- Men are getting into the girdle craze. Stop laughing.
tacks its own hate-crime law. 441 MEDICINE
77 1 Music Choosing family practices;
181 CAR VS. BIKE Rufus Wainwright on his new opera and kissing up to Toronto. prepping for the MMI.
Howa cyclist died on
781Steyn 521 M.B.A.
Toronto's "Mink Mile." The wheels fall off the human rights tribunal racket.
The surprisingly good job
221 LET'S GO RACING, BOYS 81I Feschuk market; volunteering matters.
NASCAR and "Mr. Boogity"; Funny men are useless after the end of the world.
60 I ENGINEERING
library porn; stolen artwork.
821The End Getting women into the
Murray Albert Nesbitt; 1951-2009 techie game.
World
241 HELPING DEMOCRACY 641 REALITY CHECK
A McGill prof teaches non- SUBSCRIBE TO MACLEAN'S AT What the provinces think of
violent protest to Iranians. WWW.MACLEANS.CA the Big Five's reform ideas.
13(1).) Both the B.C. and Ontario rights com-

The CHRCtells missions told Maclean's that the federal stat-


ute is not binding on provincial tribunals,
which will proceed as before.

itself to shape up The Canadian Jewish Congress called for


the ruling to be appealed: "This is one ruling
by one adjudicator," says its CEO, Bernie Far-
A tribunal rules its defaming. The tribunal can accept evidence ber, adding that Section 13(1) is an "import-
that wouldn't stand up in court. And it doesn't ant instrument" in "protect[ing] the vulner-
own hate-speech law have to establish guilt beyond doubt," they able." Indeed, it is highly likely the case gets
is unconstitutional wrote. "It's that bad." "Put Section 13 out of appealed-"all the way to the Supreme Court,"
its misery," the Montreal Gazette urged Par- adds Moon. (In 2008, he authored a report
BY NANCY MACDONALD· The growing liament, saying the case had exposed the for the CHRC which called for the repeal of
number of critics of the Canadian Human "folly" of an "odious" law. Section 13(l)-a year ago, the section was
Rights Commission received a shot in the arm The question, for parliamentarians and . used, unsuccessfully, to prosecute Maclean's
last week. In a ruling released Wednesday in the commission itself, becomes: what now? before the CHRC for material complainants
Ottawa, the commission's own tribunal niled felt was anti-Islamic.)
that Section 13(1), a controversial provision of To Geist, the question should fall to Parlia-
the Human Rights Act, was unconstitutional. ment to address. Hadjis took a "courageous
That is, the tribunal £lady challenged the legal- stand," says Keith Martin, a Liberal MP who
ity ofits own hate-speech law, concluding that has tabled a motion for the repeal of Section
it violates the freedom-of-expression guaran- 13(1). That "members of the tribunal are
tee of the Canadian Charter of Rights and expressing deep and profound concern" should
Freedoms. While the quasi-judicial body doesn't motivate Parliament to review the act. Parlia-
actually have the authority to strike a federal ment, however, has been unwilling to touch
law-that's up to a judge or Parliament-the the political hot potato. Although Section
ruling has opened a constitutional can of worms/ 13(1) is wildly unpopular with the Tory base
further undermining a provision that, for two (who, at a recen t policy convention, voted 99
years, has faced intense public scrutiny. The per cent in favour of its repeal), the issue is a
surprise ruling has left even legal experts puz- no-win for Harper's minority government; it
zling over what happens next. Meanwhile, risks offending the Jewish community as well
more and more scholars, academics and scribes as some minority communities that the party
are lining up against Section 13(1), urging for is assiduously courting.
its immediate repeal. Other members of the tribunal, meanwhile,
The controversy arose last week when the have expressed concern over the tactics of
commission's tribunal dismissed a complaint commission staff. In the Lemire case-which
filed against Marc Lemire, the far-right web- came at the heels of a five-year investigation-
master behind Freedomsite.org, which bills this included hacking into the email account
itself as the country's "freedom resource cen- of a private citizen, then using it to post racist
tre." The complaint, filed by Ottawa lawyer comments on the site so it could more easily
Richard Warman, alleged that racist and be denounced. In a March ruling, CHRT
homophobic material posted to the site was chairman Edward Lustig called such meth-
discriminatory, and "likely to expose" minor- ods "disturbing" and "disappointing."
ity groups to "hatred and contempt." Although Two years ago, the commission was widely
the tribunal's vice-chairperson, Athanasios seen as "the good guys," according to lawyer
Hadjis, found that Lemire had, in one instance, and conservative commentator Ezra Levant,
violated Section 13(1)-in a post viewed by a author of Shakedown: How Our Government
total of eight people-he let him off, deeming Is Undermining Democracy in the Name of
the provision unconstitutional. In a lengthy, The ruling "cannot be ignored," says Univer- Human Rights. It is now viewed with suspi-
107-page decision, Hadjis noted that concilia- sity of Windsor law professor Richard Moon. cion "even among editorial board members
tion and mediation, intended to be central to Sure, the commission can "continue to inves- of the country's foremost left-wing news-
the human rights process, had fallen to the tigate under Section 13(1) and send com- paper," he says. Indeed, it's a remarkable
wayside. (Lemire had removed the offending plaints onward," he adds-but "if this is the turnabout, with PEN Canada, the Canadian
material after getting notification of the com- automatic response, then it's all wasted effort," Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian
plaint.) The CHRC, he said, has instead grown and Section 13(1) becomes, in effect, a dead- Association of Journalists and lawyer Alan
increasingly aggressive and "penal in nature," letter law. Even if tribunal members do not Borovoy, a chief architect of Canada's rights N
acquiring the capacity to exact stiff fines for adhere to Hadjis's ruling, it is the "elephant commissions, all concerned with the com- h:
Q. opinions that, as its critics say, can fall well in the room," impossible to overlook, says mission's impact on freedom of expression. ~
~ short of incitement to hatred. University of Ottawa law professor Michael The question on many minds is, when will III
~ Media reaction was swift. It's unsalvage- Geist. (The CHRC says it is "reviewing the the law catch up with popular sentiment? M ~
~ able, the Toronto Star said of Section 13(1) in decision," and continues to refuse comment ...
w
S an editorial published the next day. "It can on the ruling, and on whether it will continue For more on the controversy, see ~
8 be interpreted to cover stereotyping and to investigate and prosecute under Section Mark Steyn's column on page 78. :E
17
It took a 1Nhilebut Section 13 is dead
This month, with Judge Hadjis's Marc Lemire What a difference two years makes. As the
Lemire decision demonstrates, today Section
decision, the wheels fell off the CHRCracket 13 has no friends other than its small band of
"Nice to see you all," said dam Hussein or Pol Pot, since even those direct beneficiaries such as serial plaintiff( and
Athanasios Hadjis, the Can- eminent jurists felt obliged to let someone former CHRC employee) Richard Warman,
adian "Human Rights" Tri- off once in a while just for appearances' sake. Canada's self-appointed Hatefinder-General.
bunal's vice-chair (i.e.,judge), Only in Canada was a 100 per cent convic- "Section 13 isn't salvageable;' declared ... well,
as he surveyed his court- tion rate merely reassuring proof of the go on, guess. Steyn? Ezra Levant? Some right-
room in Ottawa last year. Dominion's humane progressive commit- wing nut in the National Post? No, it was Can-
MARK "More of an interest than ment to "human rights." ada's biggest-selling newspaper and house
STEYN
there was before." This month the wheels fell off the racket. organ of every moth-eaten Trudeaupian piety,
Indeed. The packed benches that greeted On Sept. 2, Athanasios Hadjis in effect acquit- the Toronto Star. This is a long campaign to
him were a rare sight at a CHRT trial, and ted Marc Lemire of all charges but one. This restore ancient liberties that Canada gave up
especially at the Marc Lemire trial, where the unprecedented verdict is, as Joseph Brean very carelessly. But, when statist social engin-
prosecutors-the Canadian "Human Rights" reported in the National Post, "the first major eers have lost the Toronto Star, you know the
Commission-had demanded that everyone failure of Section 13(i)" in its I:listory. Was Mr. wind's blowing your way.
other than them be banned from the court- Lemire the beneficiary of a unique dispensa- What explains Judge Hadjis's belated con-
room, including the defendant, who would tion from the CHRT? No. Judge Hadjis pro- version to the constitutional virtues of free
be graciously permitted to watch proceed- nounced the accused guilty of a Section 13 speech? Less than two years ago, he thought
ings by video. That doesn't sound quite like infringement on one narrow
the right to confront your accuser in open charge-an Internet post Why is Ms. Beaumont on
court. But hey, given all the other safeguards headlined "AIDS Secrets"
of Canada's judicial inheritance the Domin- that (in David Warren's a CHRT leash for life and
ion's "human rights" regime trashes, what's
one more faggot on the bonfire of liberties?
words) "went on rather ten-
dentiously about blacks and
Mr. Lemire free to hate again?
Judge Hadjis was, by that stage, in the fifth homosexuals" and was written by someone nothing of imposing a fine and a lifetime
year of the Canadian state's investigation of otherthanMr. Lemire. Nevertheless, the court speech ban on Jessica Beaumont, plus a $3,000
Marc Lemire, webmaster of freedomsite.org declined to punish the defendant even for this award to Richard Warman as his finder's fee,
and accused Section 13 hate-monger, and infraction on the following grounds: for "hate speech" in the same general terri-
appeared from my seat in court anxious to "I have also concluded that s. 13(1) in con- tory as Mr. Lemire's was alleged to be. Why
throw the book at him. "We're done;' he said junction with ss. 54(1) and (1.1) are inconsis- is Ms. Beaumont on a CHRT leash for life
at several points during the day, swatting tent with s. 2(b) of the Charter, which guar- and Mr. Lemire free to hate again?
aside some intervention or other. Jurispru- antees the freedom of thought, belief, opinion Er, well, um ... As I often observed last year,
dentially, Judge Hadjis was outta there and and expression. The restriction imposed by under the poorly drafted and ideologically w

eager to add Mr. Lemire's scalp to the CHRT's these provisions is not a reasonable limit' interpreted British Columbia "Human Rights" ~
::J
trophy room. In that long ago spring of 2008, within the meaning of s. 1 of the Charter." Code, Maclean's and I were undoubtedly 2
the rules were very simple: under the Can- When this magazine's difficulties with Sec- guilty. In fact, after the verdict Kenneth Whyte, ~
adian "Human Rights" Tribunal, to be accused tion 13 began in late 2007, received opinion this magazine's head honcho, and I had a 2>-
of a Section 13 thought crime was to be con- took refuge in the weasel formulation that "of faintly surreal conversation discussing whether ~
victed. In the entire history of Section 13, course we all believe in freedom of speech but or not to appeal the acquittal: that's how nutty ~
every defendant brought before the CHRT it's a question of striking a balance, drawing a Canadian justice is in the 21st century. ~
had been found guilty. It would be unfair to line;' and other claptrap intended to appeal Before I attracted the attention of the ~
compare this to the justice systems of Sad- to Canadians' sense of their own moderation. thought police, I wasn't entirely up to speed 6:
TOO MUCH HAPPINESS 1 (2)
by Alice Munro

2 THE GIRL WHO PLAYED 2 (7)


WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson

3 THE WHITE QUEEN 6 (3)


by Philippa Gregory

4 GENERATION A (1)
by Douglas Coupland

S GALORE by Michael Crummey 4 (2)

6 THE BISHOP'S MAN 7 (3)


by Linden Macintyre

on state censorship in Canada, and I asked den yen to attend Judge Hadjis's court. Our 7 HOMER & LANGLEY (1)
by E.L. Doctorow
my friend Ezra Levant what he knew about counsel, Julian Porter, Q.C., filed a motion
this Section 13 business. He sent me a print- to open up the secret trial. He did what law- 8 LOVE AND SUMMER (1)
by William Trevor
out with the history of every single case. Two yers are supposed to do-he cited precedent
9 THE CHILDREN'S BOOK 3 (21)
things stood out: first, while the plaintiffs (eBe vs. New Brunswick, Ambard vs.Attorney- by A.S. Byatt
had the costs of the case paid for by the tax- General ofTrinidad and Tobago) and eminent
10 SOUTH OF BROAD 5 (4)
payer, almost all of the defendants had been jurists from Viscount Haldane to Chief Jus- by Pat Conroy
too poor to have legal representation. That's tice Dickson. In response, the CHRC offered ...... .. ........ ...... .... . ..... . . . . ... . . . . .. . . . . .
an inversion of basic justice. Second, one man feverish fantasies insisting that their work
Non-fiction
had been the plain tiff on every single Section was too dangerous to be exposed to open
EMPIRE OF ILLUSION 1 (7)
13 case since 2002-Richard Warman. That court. Judge Hadjis caved, and rescinded his
by Chris Hedges
didn't pass the smell test. secret-trial order.
2 OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell 2 (41)
The list had been compiled by someone So now he's caved again, and the jurist who
3 WHY YOUR WORLD IS 4 (16)
called Marc Lemire, a man who'd been caught thought nothing oflifetime publication bans
ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE
in the "human rights" crosshairs for half a dec- is a born-again champion of constitutional LOT SMALLER by Jeff Rubin
ade. You might not care for his opinions, but freedom. Whatever. 4 THE CELLO SUITES 3 (25)
that, as they say, is a matter of opinion. That he As for those who persist in seeing "hate" as by Eric Siblin

has been traduced by the Canadian justice sys- a threat to the Queen's peace, at Jay Currie's 5 THE EVOLUTION OF GOD 7 (8)
by Robert Wright
tem is a matter off act. But he's a dogged type, website a commenter "pettifogger" pointed
and he pushed back, and he got the goods on out that the sole post that Judge Hadjis deemed 6 BORN ROUND by Frank Bruni (1)

his abusers. He demonstrated that evidence in breach of Section 13~"AIDS Secrets" -was 7 THE BOLTER 8 (10)

exhibits were switched in mid-trial by the CHRC. read by a total of just eight people in Canada, by Frances Osborne

He proved that Warman and CHRC investi- or nought-point-eight of a Canadian per prov- 8. SLOW DEATH BY 5 (16)
RUBBER DUCK
gator Dean Steacywere themselves members ince. However, you've got to reckon that by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie
of and posters on white supremacist websites maybe two to three of those eight views were
9 GOD IS 6 (3)
under various aliases. Indeed, in a remarkable from Richard Warman salivating over another by David Adams Richards
conflict of interest, Warman, as the plaintiff, tax-free windfall ifhe sued for being" offended" 10 ETERNAL LIFE by John Spong (1)

was permitted to stroll into the CHRC, the by it; another two to three came from the
investigating body, and share passwords and CHRC bookmarking and downloading it to
Internet aliases with Steacy. enter in evidence; and maybe the sole remain-
ON THE WEB: For book reviews,
But Mr. Lemire was too obscure a figure ing view came from Mr. Lemire just after
feature articles, interviews and
to get any publicity for the CHRC's proced- posting to check that it was formatted and recommended reading by celebrities,
ural abuses and kinky penchant for playing displaying correctly. check out our new "Books Page" at
dress-up Nazis on the Internet at taxpayer In other words, no one in Canada saw this macleans.cajbooks
expense all too long. One day,.as I was rum- post. Yet Her Majesty's thought police took
maging agog through what he'd uncovered, I six years to bring this case to conclusion. And, public discourse. Instead, its "human rights"
came across a ruling by Judge Hadjis agreeing whether or not it's offensive, there's nothing regime has, quite consciously, attempted to
to the CHRC's motion to close Mr. Lemire's in there that should be illegal in a free soci- upgrade unfashionable opinions into illegal
hearing to the public. I stopped, rubbed my ety with robust traditions of vigorous public ones. When government bureaucrats forget
eyes, and reread it slowly: secret trials? In debate. That's the point: Marc Lemire is no they are not our rulers but our servants, that's
Canada? Over some unread Internet posts? threat to Canada. Whereas Jennifer Lynch, always a bigger problem than whatever "crisis"
Apparently so. Minor servants of the Crown Chief Commissar of the CHRC, and her mob they purport to be addressing.
in dull desk-bound jobs had decided that they of statist hacks, social engineers and secret- For the moment, whatever Parliament or
were really cyber-007s whose top secret work agent fantasists are ultimately a very profound the Supreme Court does, Section 13 is dead.
was vital to national security. I emailed Ken threat indeed. To survive as a free people, Can- The camel's nose ofliberty is under the CHRC
Whyte and said I'd been overcome by a sud- adians need the rough and tumble of honest tent. Now let's give 'em the hump. M

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