Posted on 08/24/2008 11:56:04 AM PDT by free_life
Academics Fear the Human Rights Commissions
A group of U. S. professors launched a campaign this week protesting plans by a prominent political science organization to hold its annual conference in Toronto next year, claiming that Canada’s restrictions on certain forms of speech puts controversial academics at risk of being prosecuted.Bradley Watson, professor of American and Western political thought at Pennsylvania’s St. Vincent College, said he will present a petition calling for the American Political Science Association (APSA) to re-evaluate its selection of Toronto for its 2009 conference at this year’s annual meeting, taking place over the Labour Day weekend in Boston.His protest has garnered support from dozens of professors across the United States, including prominent scholars such as Princeton University legal philosopher Robert P. George and Harvard University’s Harvey Mansfield.
“Our belief is that the APSA should choose its sites carefully, with particular regard for questions of freedom of speech and conscience,” Mr. Watson told the National Post by e-mail. “We therefore believe Canada to be a problematic destination.”
Mr. Watson said that professors signing the petition are concerned that recent human rights commission investigations into Maclean’s and Western Standard magazines over articles concerning Islam, and the conviction of pastor Stephen Boisson, who was ordered by Alberta’s human rights tribunal in May to cease publicizing criticisms of homosexuality, suggest that professors risk being chilled from discussing important academic subjects, or ending up in legal trouble. Mr. Watson said he plans to distribute hundreds of buttons to attendees at the Boston conference reading “Toronto 2009, Non!”
In a statement issued on Thursday, the working group behind the protest said: “The nature of radical Islamism and the relationship of public morality and homosexual conduct are issues of vital public importance” and that “all political scientists have a professional interest in a full and open scholarly debate” on these topics. The group called it “unseemly” for APSA to “turn a blind eye to [Canadian] attacks on freedom of speech” and “unacceptable … to risk exposing its own members to them.” … (Source)
Apparently this group includes both American and Canadian academics and is the oldest and largest organization of political science professors. I’m not sure of the political leanings of the group, but I suspect it’s probably dominated by liberals, even if it’s a modest majority of them. It’s good to see the liberal zeitgeist starting to eats its own. I knew it was only a matter of time, but I must admit that it’s a lot sooner than I expected.
I told you so.
What a laughingstock Canada has become. People who want to have a good political scrap are starting to scratch this country off the list for the place to do it in.
Fear of the HRC thugs, backed by the full power of the State, is enough to keep away anyone who wants to stay out of the Star Chambers.
Glorious and Free? Oh please. That’s so passé.
Maybe the American publishing industry should consider not doing business in Canada either as they could be hauled before one of these fascist kangaroo courts too.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
U.S. political scientists fear Canadian Human Rights Commission
The American Political Science Association—the largest association for political scientists in the world—is planning to host its 2009 annual conference in Toronto. That has some political scientists sufficiently concerned to start a petition to keep the event out of Canada.
What are they afraid of? According to an article by former Western Standard editor Kevin Libin, these political scientists are concerned that some of their fellow academics will get ensnared by Canada’s Human Rights Commissions.
“Our belief is that most Americans—even APSA members—have no idea how precarious the rights of freedom of speech and conscience are in Canada,” said Bradley Watson, professor of American and Western political thought at Pennsylvania’s St. Vincent College.
Marquette Warrior has the entire text of the petition. A couple of excerpts:
“And whereas Canada’s Human Rights Commissions (HRCs) have recently sought to suppress speech and impose legal penalties on speakers for expressing opinions on issues ranging from the morality of homosexual conduct and the question of legal recognition of same-sex unions to the threat to freedom posed by violent extremists acting in the name of Islam — speech that, according to all accounts, would be protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States;
“And whereas, while we know of no direct suppression of academic freedom that has yet occurred in Canada, yet the writ of Canada’s HRCs runs without evident limit to encompass any speech, academic or otherwise, to which potential complainants take “offense”— and whereas, the arbitrariness and procedurally unconstrained practices of the HRCs create an air of uncertainty regarding whose speech, on what subjects, before what audiences, will be targeted next;
“And whereas members of the Association ought to be able at the 2009 annual meeting to present research and argument on controversial topics, such as public policy concerning homosexuality or the character of and proper response to terrorist elements acting in the name of Islam, without fear of legal repercussions of any kind,
“THEREFORE we petition the Council and staff of the APSA to take all steps necessary to ensure that academic freedom and free speech, even on controversial topics such as these, are not threatened at the 2009 annual meeting, including soliciting legal advice and seeking the assurance of the Government of Canada and local authorities that the civil rights and liberties of members to free speech and academic freedom will be secure.”
My thoughts: I am embarrassed by the Canadian Human Rights Commissions. That a group of academics would fear speaking freely in Canada on controversial subjects is outrageous. It is time for us not to look to fiddle with the Canadian Human Rights Commissions to make them work.
It is time to abolish this un-Canadian and humiliating organ of Orwellian state speech suppression. Not amend, not adjust, not “make reasonable changes,” but abolish.
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on August 23, 2008 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2008/08/us-political-sc.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.