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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-05-28, Page 44 Times—Advocate Wednesday, May 28, 2008 OC E� TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs. Canada Deb Lord — Manager Scott Nixon — Editor it The Times -Advocate is owned by Metroland Media Group Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Media Group Ltd. Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • 519-235-1331 Doug Rowe -General Manager, Southwestern Ontario Division EDITORIAL Federal errors Revelations that recently -resigned Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier was careless with secret cabinet documents are a significant public relations gaffe for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Bernier resigned his cabinet post Monday after leaving secret documents at the home of his girlfriend, Julie Couillard, who has been linked to biker gangs and has been deemed a security risk by the opposition parties. While Bernier must take full responsibility for his error in judgement, the prime minister should not be let off the hook. Bernier's resigna- tion marks the first real cabinet controversy Harper has had to deal with in a minority gov- ernment for which things have gone fairly smoothly for more than two years. Of course, it hasn't hurt Harper that he faces a weak opposition from the other parties, particu- larly from Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who, after more than a year on the job still hasn't found his footing. This Bernier story may have legs, though. Opposition parties are calling for more details of the "security breach" Bernier has admitted to, and there will no doubt be an investigation. But Harper's judgement in choosing Bernier, whose nickname is "Mad Max," has to be ques- tioned. While in the past Harper has brushed off Bernier's relationship with Bernier as a pri- vate matter and denied it was a security risk, it's clear there was a security breach. "It is a very serious mistake — regardless of who the minister is, regardless of personal life — to leave classified documents in an unse- cured location," Harper said Monday. But "Mad Max's" resignation begs more ques- tions — were there other security breaches? How many other times did he leave secret docu- ments just lying around? This isn't something the government can brush aside. An investiga- tion needs to be thorough and the opposition parties need to keep the pressure on. About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. CLOSED ON HOLIDAYS. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription sales 519-235-1331 24-hour automated attendant 519-235-1336 Fax number 519-235-0766 Fax number for accounting dept. 519-235-2449 Subscription Rates One year rate for addresses in Canada: $42+GST Two year rate for addresses in Canada: $75+GST One year rate for addresses outside Canada:$160+GST Call 519-235-1331 to order a subscription. Where do they stand? Human rights commissions have been part of the Canadian political scene since the 1970s when they were introduced to address inequalities in areas such as employment and housing. In the decades since, they have operated without pub- lic scrutiny and have expanded their tentacles into areas they were never meant to be in, to the point free speech in Canada is seriously threatened. But in the past few months a series of high profile cases across the country at both the federal and provincial levels have exposed the expansion of powers the commissions have taken on as well as a political movement to curb them. And the question is, where do our local representa- tives, including Huron -Bruce Liberal MP Paul Steckle, nominee Greg McClinchey and Huron -Bruce Liberal MPP Carol Mitchell stand on the issue of free speech and abuses by human rights boards? Some of the recent not quite Kristallnacht- type human rights violations Canadians are being protected from include the Halifax Chronicle -Herald, which has been charged by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission for an April 18 editorial cartoon, which also earned the newspaper a visit from the local constabulatory. On the west coast, Maclean's magazine and Canadian writer Mark Steyn have been charged by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission for an article last year in Maclean's, while at the federal level the RCMP have recently begun an investigation into alleged criminal conduct by members of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. And recently in Ontario, a Burlington businessman brought to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal after he told a medical marijuana user not to light up in front of his family restaurant, gave up fighting the complaint because he couldn't afford the legal fees of $60,000 it would have cost to defend himself. In human rights cases, those charged pay for their own legal fees while the plaintiff has their fees paid for by the Crown. In response to the threats to free speech, politicians from different parties have called for reforms to the CHRC, including Liberal MP Keith Martin and Conservative MPs such as Nina Grewal, who has called for a broad review of the Canadian Human Rights Act and James Rajotte, who says, "human rights commis- sions operating at various levels of society are in need of major reform." Will Steckle or McClinchey vote for the private mem- bers motion that Martin has put forward to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to protect free speech? Locally, the Ontario Human Rights Commission recent- ly released its report called "Freedom to Fish," which dealt with alleged racism towards Asian fishermen in Ontario towns and noted that groups it protects include "Aboriginals, African Canadians, lesbians, gays, bisexu- als, transgendered and intersexed individuals, Jews, Muslims, Arabs, those from South Asian communities and women." (I think I'm in there somewhere, but I'm not sure). The report contains several recommendations which include statements such as "introduce legislation to the Victims Bill of Rights which ensures that all victims of hate crime are pre- sumed to have suffered emotional distress." It also says that victims "do not have to have experienced a crime to contact police about a hate incident," presumably so the human rights machine can uncoil and deal with the perpetra- tor without having to deal with inconvenient issues such as evidence, that for the past few years, (actually 800) have been demanded by the law Canada was founded on. The report also recommends "greater educa- tion in the schools to deal with discriminatory atti- tudes," and the question for Mitchell is whether she feels schools are the proper area for government mandated anti -racist education or whether it should be left to par- ents. Does she believe the OHRC should use phrases to describe Ontario such as "possible forms of overt and systemic discrimination?" Free speech, like all of the freedoms Canadian have, wasn't given to us by politicians but it is their job to defend it or at the very least to say what they believe. PAT BO BACK 40 VIEW Classified Rates Word ads: $13 for 20 words, 20t for each additional word+ GST. Notices (births, announcements, coming events, memoriams, cards of thanks): $16 + GST for up to 50 words, All ads must be pre -paid. The classified ad deadline is Monday at 10 a.m. Display Advertising To place a display ad, 519-235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. or evenings 519-235-1336 (leave message) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602. Deadline: Fri. 2 p.m. Web site: www.southhuron.com E-mail Us TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by @southhuron.com. For example, Deb Lord's e-mail address is dlord@southhuron.com Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. LEN The Times -Advocate Team Manager Deb Lord ext. 103 COMPOSITION Nikki Cyr ext. 101 Kelly Gackstetter ext. 101 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 EDITOR Scott Nixon ext. 105 REPORTERS Pat Bolen ext. 113 Nina Van Lieshout ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Jennifer Skonieczny ext. 102 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Marg Pertschy ext. 108 Heather Clarke ext. 111