Thanks to Four Horses.

CPC Convention resolution

RESOLUTION P-203
Modify HRC Jurisdiction
iii) The Conservative Party supports legislation to remove authority
from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal to regulate,
receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to Section 13 of
the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Earlier today we circulated a note regarding blogger’s endorsement of
this CPC resolution. Blogger, Peter O’Donnell has posted his first draft
to 
capture thoughts and concerns on s-13 as follows:

————————————————->
“Section 13 has become a major concern of Canadian writers and bloggers
, and all citizens who are passionate about their inalienable right to
free speech. 

We note that the law is poorly worded and is wide open to the
manipulative use of those who would seek to move political debate into
the judicial arena for their own benefit and personal gain. 

When a law is enacted, like Section 13, that makes “hurt feelings” and
vague legal concepts such as “speech liable to cause hatred” a basis for
expensive legal prosecution of individuals by the powerful state, there
is no longer any strict legal test for hate speech, but simply a
political platform that anyone can use for any cause where some form of
“hurt feelings” can be demonstrated. 

In practice, Section 13 has been used mainly by radical left-wing and
other special interest lobby groups to harass conservative writers and
bloggers. Even the people bringing the legal actions would probably
agree that there is no real hate speech, and no real hurt feelings,
involved in these legal matters. In fact, so benign are most of the
alleged cases of “hate speech” that the so-called complainants don’t
even bother to show up in court, and instead engage in “lawfare,” which
is a relatively new concept in which one side tries to punish its
adversaries by the application of the legal process itself. 

In other words, Section 13 is the sort of particularly bad law that
brings the legal foundation of society into disrepute, and which
challenges all of our essential concepts of the law, including habeas
corpus, the right to a speedy trial, due process, the right to confront
accusers, and a balance of power between the accused and the plaintiff.
Essentially, what we now have thanks to Section 13 is a situation in
which kangaroo courts operating outside the normal legal system are free
to engage in expensive ritual punishments of those who hold the “wrong”
opinions about any number of subjects in an increasingly politically
correct social environment. 

Section 13 is the equivalent of laws passed by totalitarian regimes in
the past, whether one looks at the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany,
designed to give the state unlimited powers to control the speech and
thereby the thought of its citizens. We can only speculate what further
uses of this ill-conceived law might be forthcoming under future
governments of Canada that might have more sympathy for such objectives
than any conservative government ought to have. 

Therefore we strongly support those members of the Conservative Party of
Canada who seek to repeal or amend Section 13, while there is still an
opportunity to do so. Indeed, we recommend a wide-ranging investigation
of the current and recent practices of all human rights tribunals in
Canada, and a parliamentary inquiry into all of the practices of the
CHRC and related organizations, especially with regard to political
interference, illegal activities such as wiretapping and monitoring of
private internet-based communications, and any other practices which
threaten the integrity of the justice system in Canada.
———————————————————->

O’Donnell’s idea is to have this or something endorsed and read from the
floor, by a delegate. Additionally, Connie at Free Dominion is
attempting to craft a flyer to be circulated at the CPC convention,
further outlining our concerns on s-13. If all goes according to plan,
we can get a flyer printed in Winnipeg and handed over to some of the
free speech CPC delegates who have come forward to help, in time to pass
around at the CPC convention.

Connie’s post on FD is here:
http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=107132