Jennifer Lynch, the commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, is quite familiar with the phrase, “damage-control”. In fact, she spent $167,000 of taxpayer dollars in hiring a public relations firm, Hill-Knowlton, to do just that. In the wake of the complaints launched against Mark Steyn and MacLean’s, the public rapidly became conscious of the provisions with the Canadian Human Rights Act that could in effect censor one side of Canadian political discourse. Federal parliamentarians were deluged with correspondence from their constituents demanding something be done about it.

In addition to paying six figures to public relations advisors, Lynch embarked upon a concerted effort to save her Commission’s censorship powers. She jetted to Ireland to a convention of Canada’s lawyers to rally them to her side. She hired a hate-speech expert to defend the legislation. She and her aides made various appearances on Canadian media, all the while refusing to be on-air in a debate with her detractors. She submitted her own report to Parliament, praising the work of her commission in fighting hate speech. She publicly dismissed any criticism as “misinformation, personal attacks, and innuendo”.  Finally, she appeared before Parliament’s Justice and Human Rights Committee, equipped with a game-plan from Hill-Knowlton to dodge their questions and waste their time.

For the most part, Lynch succeeded. The din about Section 13 receded. So did the public’s interest into the other parts of the federal and provincial Human Rights acts and codes; laws that were regularly being used to override the fundamental freedoms of Canadians, often with a startling degree of bias. The bureaucrats had learned their lesson: press their mandate only against those who don’t have the wherewithal to go public with their case, as Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant did

That is the atmosphere in which the Stand Up For Freedom Canada campaign began. We believe that the stories of Steyn and Levant shouldn’t be the only ones told. Section 13 shouldn’t be the only part of the Act scrutinized. And the CHRC shouldn’t be the only “human rights” body to be held to account for their continued disregard for the fundamental freedoms of Canadians. Such injustices shouldn’t be swept under the rug by the “damage-control” efforts of Jennifer Lynch and her provincial counterparts. Our website intends to reach Canadians from all walks of life with this message.

It is politically risky to be in a position of opposing a “human rights” institution. As a result, most politicians need considerable and sustained pressure before they will think about putting themselves in that position. The Stand Up For Freedom campaign aims to facilitate this with the Easy-Mail system embedded into our website, whereby an e-mail can be sent to the user’s MP with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The reception to the launch of the campaign has been very encouraging. Apart from an appearance on Vancouver’s CKNW radio station in the afternoon primetime, an article was published about the campaign in the Sun chain of newspapers, which has a circulation of millions of Canadians from coast to coast. There were various other mentions and appearances in specialty websites and media. The first run of pamphlets have already been distributed and we’re on our second printing.

But the challenge has only begun. Maintaining the momentum will be more difficult than the launch. In addition, converting the grassroots response into political action isn’t always easy and doesn’t come overnight. We need the support of each and every reader of this newsletter; a commitment to keep this issue front and center with their elected representatives, their peers, and even in the media, mainstream or otherwise – we need you to send a letter to the editor, make a comment or create a link in a blog, or give a Facebook thumb’s up. Will you help maintain the momentum?

Thanks for your support, and have a Merry Christmas.

Stand Up For Freedom Canada Campaign