Posted on 05/04/2004 9:37:01 AM PDT by GMMAC
The London Free Press Tuesday, May 4, 2004 By Rory Leishman
Anyone who thinks conscientious Christians have nothing to fear from the courts should ponder the escalating persecution of Hugh Owens and Scott Brockie.
Brockie is the Christian printer who ran afoul of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, by refusing to print business cards and other materials for the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. The aim of the Archives is to promote the lifestyles of gays, lesbians and bisexuals -- lifestyles that Brockie deplores as gravely unhealthy and sinful.
In a ruling on Feb. 19, 2000, the Tribunal found that Brockie had violated the ban on discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation in the Ontario Human Rights Code. To atone for this offence, the Tribunal ordered him to pay $5,000 in damages to the Archives president, Ray Brillinger. In addition, the Tribunal directed that Brockie must henceforth print materials for any homosexual individual or group on the same basis as all other clients.
Brockie appealed to the Ontario Divisional Court, and lost. On June 17, 2002, the Court upheld the orders of the Tribunal, subject only to the qualification that he is not required to print anything that, in the opinion of a judge, "might reasonably be held to be in direct conflict with core elements of Mr. Brockie's religious beliefs."
Having expended close to $100,000 in legal fees for a fruitless defence, Brockie decided against any further appeal. That decision would have ended the matter, except that the Ontario Human Rights Commission and Brillinger appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal for an order requiring Brockie to pay their legal costs. In a ruling on March 30, the Commission and Brillinger won. Brockie is now stuck with an additional legal bill of $40,000.
Meanwhile, Owens is appealing a ruling by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal that requires him to pay $15,000 in damages to three homosexuals who were offended by an advertisement he had placed in The Saskatoon StarPhoenix that contained a list of Bible verses opposed to homosexuality. Owens is a modestly paid guard at the Regina Correctional Centre. To avoid legal costs, he has represented himself without the benefit of legal counsel.
Now, even Owens is facing financial ruin. He has already lost one appeal in the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench. If he loses again in the Court of Appeal, he, like Brockie, could get stuck with tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees run up by the prosecuting human rights commission.
Apologists for gay rights activists and the courts would argue that Brockie and Owens are only getting what they deserve for deliberately breaking the law. That's patently untrue. Brockie and Owens did not intend to violate the law. Given the ostensible guarantee of freedom of religion in section two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they and their lawyers thought Christians are still free in Canada to express peaceful opposition to sodomy, rimming and other deviant sexual practices.
In a classic text, The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek observed that in countries governed by the rule of law, "government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand -- rules which make it possible to foresee with fair certainty how the authority will use its coercive powers in given circumstances and to plan one’s individual affairs on the basis of this knowledge."
Prior to the rulings in Owens and Brockie, no one could have foreseen with fair certainty that Canadians are no longer free to publish Bible verses opposing sodomy or to refuse on principle to print materials for a gay advocacy organization. These two cases illustrate how judicial activists have destroyed the rule of law for all Canadians.
Sean Murphy of the Catholic Civil Rights League is fed up. In reaction to the latest Brockie ruling, he charged: "There is a point beyond which the conduct of judicial officers will bring the administration of justice into disrepute. That point is passed when a Christian printer is ordered to produce business cards and letterhead for an organization that promotes pro-pedophilia essays, is fined $5,000 for having refused to do so, and is left with $40,000 in legal bills for daring to defend himself."
Rory Leishman 836 Wellington St., London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3S7 Home/Office Phone: 519-439-2676 Home Page: www.roryleishman.com
Of course not. Some animals are more equal than others in pig socialist Canada.
I guess no one seems to realize that it's happening here too. It's just a matter of time before some left-wing lunatic and his fascist followers take over the government. It's not really that far-fecthed if you think about it. They already control the courts and the media, the only thing that's left is the government.
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Holding all Canadians responsible for garbage like this is pretty much on the same level as blaming all Americans for the Clintons.
laotzu named "Canada," not "Canadians."
I haven't done this; and yet, knew some would rush to be offended. Here....I will sanitize it for our Canadian friends:
It gets harder each day to not be more cautionary of Canada.
Thank you.
What?!!
Are you new to FreeRepublic? Never heard that fella Limbaugh, Gingrich, or Reagan? How about Dr Walter Williams, or Dr Thomas Sowell?
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