Things have gotten interesting in Alberta.

In rapid-fire succession, several events have pushed the need for reform or removal of the human rights commission and tribunal to the forefront of the public consciousness. Editorials, letters-to-the-editor, talk shows, and water cooler discussions are coming fast and furious in support or in opposition. And this is exactly what Stand Up For Freedom hopes to generate across the country.

It all began at the Wildrose Alliance’s two-day Annual General Meeting in Calgary on June 25^th and 26^th. There, the provincial party not only dropped the “Alliance” from their name, they adopted a policy plank to abolish the human rights commission and send complaints under the act to the courts.

This generated a great deal of reaction, some in favour, while many others were opposed. But what was a common theme among all the interested parties was a need to reform the system.

In 2009, the Alberta Progressive Conservative government was set to do just that. After condemning his own commission for their mishandling of the Stephen Boissoin complaint, Culture and Community Spirit minister Lindsay Blackett labeled the Tribunal a “kangaroo court” and vowed to get it out of the business of regulating speech.

But that never materialized. Instead, the government expanded the role of the Commission and increased its budget. During a discussion on the Wildrose position to abolish the commission on Ezra Levant’s current-events show, The Source, Blackett confirmed that he had tried his best to shepherd those reforms through, but was ultimately stymied by his own premier, Ed Stelmach.

Cue an effort by two grassroots groups in northern and southern Alberta, who stuffed newspapers and mailboxes with tens of thousands of Stand Up For Freedom pamphlets last week. This campaign was covered by the local Lethbridge newspaper. But it also elicited an editorial that went against the grain of every newspaper editorial board across the country: in support of the human rights agencies and their policing of speech. Several letters in opposition to the editorial cropped up.

In the midst of all this, Lindsay Blackett found it necessary to clear the air on his support for the provincial commission and tribunal. His opinion piece was carefully crafted to avoid any mention of the policing of speech, except for one statement. “…the impacts of Alberta’s efforts to improve the commission are also evidenced in that neither have there been any significant issues related to freedom of speech.”

With all due respect, Mr. Blackett, that is smoke and mirrors. With almost all complaints being resolved under the strict confidentiality of the mediation process, there is no way for the public to know if there have been any significant issues unless a respondent has the temerity to stand up to the bullying and risk a tribunal hearing. What’s more, a law that unjustly infringes upon our freedoms is still a threat even if it hasn’t claimed any noisy victims in the past two years.

Indeed, the very fact that we are even having these discussions in Alberta is a tremendous success for Stand Up For Freedom; the public and media are engaged, the government is listening, and the government-in-waiting is taking the lead.