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The Conservative government has introduced a motion to Parliament's Justice Committee proposing an investigation into the abusive, corrupt practises of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The motion specifically refers to public "concerns" about the CHRC's "investigative techniques" and their "interpretation and application" of the section 13 thought crimes provision. The resolution, which you can read here in both official languages, was put forward by Rick Dykstra (pictured at left), the Conservative MP from St. Catherines, Ontario, with the knowledge and approval of the Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson. Here is an e-mail from Nicholson, sent to a voter just today, in...

The following press release (see below) just landed in my inbox: Apparently, the Canadian Islamic Congress is going to announce that it's seeking some kind of plea bargain with Maclean's magazine in regard to the human-rights complaint against Mark Steyn's famous 2006 article. One imagines it will be some variation on the CIC's previous demand that Maclean's publish a lengthy rebuttal by Muslim activists. Given that Maclean's editor Ken Whyte responded to that previous overture by stating that he would rather go bankrupt than publish an anti-Steyn manifesto, I would estimate the chances that the magazine accept this offer at...

Canada is a lucky nation to have men like this By Ezra Levant February 26, 2008 I sometimes get e-mails from Canadian Forces troops in Afghanistan, who are always thoughtful about the larger purpose of their mission. It's clear to me that they think and talk a lot about the moral importance of their mission. I believe they are true idealists. Of course they are: in a time of war, with a near-certainty of deployment to the front lines, it takes a very special and selfless person to volunteer to join the army. If my correspondents are any indication, our...

SYED SOHARWARDY Special to Globe and Mail Update February 15, 2008 at 12:50 AM EST Recognize my name? Lately, Ezra Levant of the now-defunct Western Standard has been doing his best to demonize me in interviews and blogs. Mr. Levant probably had never heard of me until I filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission against his decision to reprint the Danish cartoons that sparked a wave of violent and destructive protests across Europe and the Muslim world in 2005. The reprinting of the cartoons wasn’t about free speech. The originals are readily available on the Internet for...

As you probably already know Canada has instituted Thought Crimes legislation because the Canadian gub’ment has knuckled under the pressure of heterophobe and Islamo-nazi terrorists in their country. It is no longer acceptable to question another’s sexual behavior which has now spread to the crime of questioning, disagreeing, or flat out speaking out against one’s religion–oh! Except for Christianity! That’s a fair target. Anyway, an underground Canadian sent me the following for your reading horror! Is this coming to America soon? A so called Human Rights Commission? Who gets to haul your butt into their office, and interrogate and question...

Much has now been written about Ezra Levant, the former publisher of the now defunct Western Standard, and his decision two years ago to publish a set of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. For those who prefer to forget, they were the Danish caricatures of the founder of Islam, implying a connection between Muslim fanaticism and terrorist violence. In response to the appearance of the said pictures and their claim that Islamic extremism led to violence, Islamic extremists killed people, promised to decapitate their opponents and firebombed churches and embassies. Not all Muslims behaved or thought thus. But anyone...

Putting tribunals on trial By Pete Vere January 17, 2008 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario Canada's human rights commissions are a threat to freedom of speech in America, says Ezra Levant, the latest in a long string of conservative writers to be brought before Canada's quasi-judicial panels for speech about Islam. But Mr. Levant is not taking it lying down and is using the Internet and his own legal savvy and flair for publicity to put the tribunals themselves on trial before the public, in Canada and elsewhere. "Although the United States has a very robust First Amendment, Canada and Britain...

Officer McGovern asked if I thought there should be any limits to free speech under our constitution. Of course there should be, and I listed a half-dozen examples. But I drew a distinction between criminal or tortious speech and political speech. I also pointed out that free political speech isn't just protected in a liberal democracy -- it protects a liberal democracy. That's because it acts as a "safety valve" for people who want to change society. They don't have to resort to arms. We also discussed the absurd -- and illegal -- power of the commission to "order" me...

Click on link for youtube videos of Canadian "Human Rights" Commission interrogating publisher for publishing the Danish Mohammed cartoons. A sickening display of how freedom of speech is being eliminated in the West.

CALGARY - Thursday, Jan. 10/08. Outspoken conservative commentator Ezra Levant will be before the Alberta Human Rights Commission Friday defending his former magazine's 2006 publication of a series of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Members of Calgary's Muslim community were outraged when Levant's now-defunct publication, the Western Standard, published the cartoons in February 2006, shortly after their initial appearance in a Danish newspaper led to rioting and protests around the world. Syed Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, later filed a complaint against the Western Standard to the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Ezra Levant was publisher...

Thousands of Palestinian refugees are still trapped inside the camp Several transport planes carrying military aid for the Lebanese army from the US and its Arab allies have arrived at Beirut airport.The move follows an appeal for such aid by the Lebanese government. Its forces are battling Islamist militants who have taken over the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reiterated Washington's support for the Lebanese government. She said gunmen in Nahr al-Bared were trying to destabilise a democratic government. A Red Cross food convoy from the Jordanian capital, Amman,...

DUBAI (Reuters) - A group calling itself al Qaeda's wing in the Levant vowed to carry out bombings in Lebanon and attacks on Christians unless Beirut pulled its army away from Palestinian refugee camps."We warn you for the last time, after which there will be nothing apart from seas of blood," said a speaker identified as the military leader of the group in a video posted on Friday by a media arm used by Islamist groups including Qaeda in Iraq."What we want is that you order the Christian Lebanese army to pull its men from around all Palestinian camps and...

Jordan's King Abdullah is addressing a joint session of Congress.

Plastered Syrian Skulls from the Dawn of Civilisation In the Neolithic period the Levantine Fertile Crescent ushered in one of the most profound cultural revolutions in the history of the Mediterranean basin. This environmentally blessed cradle of civilisation played host to modern humans as they made the crucial transition from hunter-gatherers to sedentary farmers to emerge as proto-urban societies. A conspicuous enigma of the world’s first ‘city dwellers’ was the most extraordinary ritual practice of plastering human skulls, which is attested at several major Neolithic sites, such as Jericho in the Palestinian Territories, Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and ‘Ain Ghazal in...

Mark Steyn T-shirtViva Steyn! Wear the T-shirt that shows you're a true intellectual revolutionary – the Mark Steyn Che Guevara-style T-shirt. Created especially for the Western Standard by Rob Kelly (the same artist who drew the famous Libranos poster). Viva Steyn is not only an expression of your good fashion sense, it's a sign of your good political sense, too. Order this true collector's item today! Made of 100% pre-shrunk cotton. Available in Black only. More info or to order:Ezra Levant, Publisher and Conservative Fashionista, The Western Standard

Judaism does not regard violence and war to promote justice as always wrong. It accepts that certain kinds of war will be ethically justified, and that it is sometimes morally acceptable to kill people. Before declaring war or starting a battle there must be a genuine attempt to make peace and avoid the conflict. Jewish law only permits combatants to be deliberately killed in war. Innocent civilians must be given every opportunity to leave the field of combat before a battle starts. Old Testament In much of the Old Testament God gives his clear approval to war. He is identified...

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Israel that it has "pushed the button of its own destruction" because of its actions in Lebanon. He also said Israel should "pack up" and move elsewhere, repeating comments made last year. Israel has accused Iran of involvement in the capture of the two Israeli soldiers, which sparked the current crisis, claims Iran denies. Iran has also been accused of supplying Hezbollah with money and arms. "Israel pushed the button of its own destruction by attacking Lebanon," Mr Ahmadinejad said while addressing an education conference. I advise them to pack up and move...

Dear Western Standard reader, Our magazine has been sued for publishing the Danish cartoons, and I need your help to fight back! As you know, the Western Standard was the only mainstream media organ in Canada to publish the Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed. We did so for a simple reason: the cartoons were the central fact in one of the largest news stories of the year, and we're a news magazine. We publish the facts and we let our readers make up their minds. Advertisers stood with us. Readers loved the fact that we treated them...

Even in Canada, not-so-veiled threats Barbara Kay National Post Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Far from the riots, vandalism, church burnings and murders by Muslim mobs in the wake of the Danish cartoons, Canada has so far played the role of concerned onlooker. Like the proverbial country mouse, we peacefully nibble a secure crust in our rural granary, watching with wide-eyed incredulity as the city mice of Europe, the Middle East and Africa snatch bites of Camembert between anxious dashes to safety behind their barricaded mouse holes. That's to say, while real churches burn and real people die abroad in...

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he regrets the publication of controversial editorial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by some media outlets. In his first public statement on the controversy since it broke wide open last week, Harper noted Tuesday that Canadians have a right to free speech. But he added that they "also have the right to voice their opinion on the free speech of others." "I regret the publication of this material in several media outlets," Harper said in a news release. "While we understand this issue is divisive, our government wishes that people be respectful of...