Posted on 08/07/2008 4:01:55 AM PDT by Clive
After a year-long investigation, the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission has rejected a complaint by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant over his republication of the Danish Muhammad cartoons.
The allegation that the February 14, 2006, issue of the now defunct magazine was likely to expose Muslims to hatred helped to spark a national debate about human rights law and free speech, and its rejection comes after similar complaints of Islamophobia against Maclean's magazine also failed.
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"I was let go because I'm in the media every day. I've been down to [the U.S.] Congress to testify, I've been on CNN even. That's why I was let go, because if I caused them this much pain just in an investigation, imagine what the trial would be like," he said.
He does not consider this a victory, though.
"This censor approved what I wrote," he said. "His decision is not that I have freedom of speech. His decision is that I have his approval. I'm not interested in his approval. The only test of free speech is if I can write what he disapproves of with impunity. That's what freedom of speech is, to piss off some second-rate bureaucrat like Pardeep Gundara and know that you have the right to do so, because you're in Canada, not Saudi Arabia."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
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Thank you fanfan for the ping.
No man or woman should have to go through what Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant did.
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http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=EzraILevant
“This censor approved what I wrote,” he said. “His decision is not that I have freedom of speech. His decision is that I have his approval. I’m not interested in his approval. The only test of free speech is if I can write what he disapproves of with impunity. That’s what freedom of speech is, to piss off some second-rate bureaucrat like Pardeep Gundara and know that you have the right to do so, because you’re in Canada, not Saudi Arabia.”
Hooray Ezra Levant!
“the February 14, 2006, issue of the now defunct magazine”
Exactly.
Now we need to get rid of the Human Rights Commissions.
Currently second from the top.
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