Canada's democratic tradition of liberty and the rule of law was denigrated a few weeks ago when Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, presented a stone enwrapped in the symbolism of the Magna Carta to the Canadian Human Rights Museum. The stone came from Runnymede, UK, the birthplace of the Magna Carta.
Perhaps you saw the photos that appeared in news reports from coast to coast. With such a lofty presentation of this symbolic cornerstone, why would I say that liberty and the rule of law were denigrated? Because human rights have nothing to do with the Christian democratic tradition of the British Commonwealth represented by this magnificent document.
Human rights is the law code of humanism. The Decalogue is the law code for a free and democratic society.
Human Rights Codes are a modern phenomenon. Human rights as a body of law is a new innovation. Human rights commissions, formed to implement and adjudicate human rights violations, stand Christian principles of jurisprudence on their head. They flow out of the treacherous humanistic religion.
Christianity provided a moral, legal and judicial foundation that most Canadians still embrace today; principles such as the rule of law, equality before the law, presumption of innocence, truth as a defence, the right to face your accusers, and with the signing of the Magna Carta, that most important application of equality before the law -- the one that is most fleeting when totalitarian religions like humanism rise in place of Christianity -- equality between the governors and the governed.
Outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the concept of the rule of law is almost non-existent throughout human history. Almost every people in history has been ruled by men, most of them tyrants. These rulers did not consider themselves bound by the law that they imposed on their subjects. They stood over the law. They were the creators of the law.
The Judeo-Christian tradition of the West treats governors/politicians as ministers of the law, ministers of a law already created -- by God.
That's not what we see in Canada or anywhere else in the West today. We are governed by people who oppress us with laws that they make themselves exempt from. Politicians can collect extravagant pensions at a much younger age than anyone else, and while working full-time at other careers once they've retired from politics or been voted out of office. They have to keep passing useless laws to strengthen accountability rules because they have been proven completely untrustworthy with the use they make of their office.
This is all taking place with the rise of humanism, and a decline in the cultural and legal influence of Christianity.
Whereas Christianity gave Canada the rule of law and equality before the law, humanism's human rights give us affirmative action, which is special advantage for politically or ideologically favoured groups. Human rights pretend to provide a legal framework for pursuing complaints involving hurt feelings and people's thoughts -- "hate" -- giving greater importance to them than to actual cases of physical harm. Human rights treat students' feelings as more important than academic achievements. Human rights place higher priority on humanistic concerns over gender equality and racial sensitivity than the physical strength and competency necessary to be front-line emergency workers, whether in firefighting or as police officers or soldiers.
Police tolerate criminal behaviour and intimidation tactics by homosexuals, who have benefited perhaps more than anybody else by the human rights ethic. But these police repeatedly throw a peaceful protesting pro-life grandmother in jail in Toronto. A British court acquitted vigilantes who caused over $200,000 worth of damage to an arms factory because the company provided weapons to Israel and the vigilantes were acting on behalf of the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza.
In today's environment of special judicial protection rather than equality before the law, crimes for the cause of environmentalism can also get you off. An English jury decided in 2008 that causing over £35,000 of damage to a coal-fired power station was justified as a protest against man-made global warming. This is the human rights ethic which, in some corners of today's bizarre world, is now being extended to animals and nature. Most conservative Christians are well aware of the political tolerance for full nudity during Toronto's annual Gay Pride Parade. These examples only touch on the problem.
The bottom line is that human rights is not simply a synonym for the Ten Commandments or God's law; human rights is not a modern improvement on Christian ethics. Human rights is humanism's law code. It's a law code that tolerates vigilante behavior for "the right" causes, and ruthlessly prosecutes "politically incorrect" offenders. It's an approach to governance that is unpredictable, easy to manipulate by those who control the levers of power, and increasingly arbitrary rather than limited, predictable and knowable.
The Magna Carta cornerstone can no more give the human rights museum a veneer of respectability than putting a Chevy symbol on a Ford could make it a GM vehicle. The Prime Minister should have highlighted the actual historical significance of the stone by asking the Queen to present it to Parliament where it could take its place alongside other reminders to our nation of God's dominion and our continued reliance on Him.
Each of the exterior arched windows of the Peace Tower, for example, are engraved with Scripture verses which serve as permanent reminders to us of the convictions of our forefathers:
1. Over the East window -- "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea" (Psalm 72:8). 2. Over the West window -- "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). 3. Over the South window -- "Give the King thy judgment, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King's son" (Psalm 72:1).
And let's not forget our most recent national document, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which, despite all its flaws, does have a preamble which unquestionably reminds our nation that "Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law."
Would that our Canadian Human Rights Museum would teach the lessons of our national history, but somehow I'm doubtful.
Tim Bloedow is Executive Director of ChristianGovernance. You can read more of his insightful commentary on Canadian current events from a Christian perspective at christiangovernance.ca.
TORONTO, July 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The recent release of the Ontario Human Rights Commission's annual report shows that the OHRC is activity promoting the homosexualist agenda in schools and elsewhere.
Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall prefaced the report with the statement: “Our work can be summed up in three words: educate, empower and act – actions that can transform written rights into lived rights.”
To that end, the OHRC says it is working hard to bring its message of "inclusiveness" to children in school.
Under the heading of "Talking human rights, one school at a time," the OHRC says that, "Working with educators is key to our goal of an inclusive school system for all of Ontario’s children."
In the past year Hall visited Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay and Holy Name Catholic High School in Windsor with this message of “inclusiveness.” The OHRC also gave input and materials to EGALE Canada, a homosexual advocacy organization, to support its Safe Schools initiatives and its new website promoting homosexuality to youth and educators.
Under the guise of helping students with developmental disabilities and children from various ethnic backgrounds feel comfortable in their school environment, the OHRC has focused a great deal of its energy on promoting the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy (Equity Strategy), which has been highly controversial due to its heavy emphasis on acceptance of homosexuality as "normal."
"While the Equity Strategy is being implemented, we continue to provide support to key stakeholders like the Ontario Education Services Corporation (OESC), the Ministry of Education, Inclusive Education Branch and Regional Equity and Inclusive Education Networks," the report states.
Internal activities at the OHRC included "training all OHRC staff and Commissioners on understanding sexual orientation and gender identity," and having its staff volunteer with "the OPS (Ontario Public Service) Pride Network to deliver its ‘Let’s Start With Words’ training on appropriate LGBT terminology and workplace issues." Staff members also "contributed to develop its new Positive Space program."
Hall also said that the OHRC had begun a project on how to resolve competing human rights claims.
The report gives as examples of competing human rights when "a person who is blind and uses a service dog wants to take a taxi, but the taxi driver’s religious beliefs lead him to not allow dogs in his car,” or when “a marriage commissioner refuses to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple, because it would be contrary to her religious beliefs."
"What do we do in cases like these, when rights related to one Code ground seem to conflict with those of another ground?" the rhetorical question is asked.
"The OHRC is doing some policy work to find answers."
In her remarks on the work of the OHRC in the past year, Chief Commissioner Hall thanked all the partners that helped convey their message of "inclusivity and diversity."
The full text of the OHRC annual report is available here.
DEARBORN,
Michigan, July 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- Four Christian missionaries were arraigned in the 19th District Court
in Dearborn on July 12 and charged with disorderly conduct. Police had
arrested them at Dearborn's Arab International Festival on June 18 for
handing out Christian literature.
Police also seized the group's
video equipment.
Nabeel Qureshi of Virginia, Negeen Mayel of
California and Paul Rezkalla and David Wood, both of New York, who are
members of a Christian group called Acts 17 Apologetics, said they only
spoke to people who approached them and videotaped the encounters to
protect themselves. They added that the charges are a violation of their
First Amendment right to free speech.
“We made sure that the only
people we talked to were people who first approached us. And this was
to limit accusations of instigation and disruption,” Qureshi told
reporters after the incident. “We knew people have a tendency to accuse
us of being disruptive, of inciting, and instigating. So we wanted to
make sure we did absolutely nothing of the sort.”
Lawyers from the
Thomas More Law Center, which is representing the four street
preachers, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the Christians, three
of whom are converts from Islam.
“It’s evident that the Dearborn
Police department was more interested in placating Muslims than obeying
our Constitution,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of
the Thomas More Law Center, in a press release. “These Christians were
exercising their Constitutional rights to free speech and the free
exercise of religion, but apparently in a city where the Muslim
population seems to dominate the political apparatus, sharia law trumps
our Constitution.”
“It’s apparent that these arrests were a
retaliatory action over the embarrassing video of the strong arm tactics
used last year by Festival Security Guards,” Thompson added. “This
time, the first thing police officers did before making the arrests was
to confiscate the video cameras in order to prevent a recording of what
was actually happening.”
The Christian preachers had had a
similar run-in with the police at least year’s festival.
According
to U.S. Census Bureau information,
nearly one third of Dearborn's 98,000 inhabitants are Arab Americans.
Dearborn
Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. defended the actions of the police and has
issued a statement
on the city's Web site stating that he thinks the group's intent was to
disrupt the Arab festival.
"The real violation of First Amendment
rights occurs with Acts 17 Apologetics trying to imply they were the
victim when the real violation is their attack on the city of Dearborn
for having tolerance for all religions, including believers in the
Koran," O'Reilly's statement said.
"Our job is to provide public
safety to all who choose to rally or demonstrate in the city of Dearborn
and we will provide the same professional service regardless of the
cause or views of the parties involved," Dearborn Police Chief Ronald
Haddad said in the statement on the city's web site.
A press
release from the Thomas More Law Center today says that the mayor's
statement is "an unprecedented and astonishing development."
"The
City of Dearborn, through its mayor and its official website, personally
attacked the four Christian missionaries arrested at the annual Arab
International Festival on June 18, 2010. The Mayor’s intrusion into the
case destroyed whatever semblance remained of an unbiased and
professional law enforcement action following the illegal seizure of
video cameras to prevent recording of the events surrounding the
arrests."
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest
law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan will represent the Christian
missionaries at their trial, which is scheduled for September 20, 2010.
Video
footage of Acts 17 Apologetics' response to Mayor O'Reilly's statement
is available here.
Contact
info for Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly
Dearborn City Hall
13615 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, Michigan, 48126
Phone: 313. 943.2300
Email: via website
VANCOUVER: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF)
today called
for full disclosure of all Olympic-related costs in the wake of the B.C.
government's release of its Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games cost estimate.
The
government report showed a financial commitment of $765 million and a
hosting
activity cost $160 million for, for a total of $925 million. This
figure,
however, leaves out many additional Olympic-related costs such as crown
corporation tickets, paid ‘volunteers,’ the Olympic Secretariat and any
of the
Olympic-spawned capital projects.
"This cost estimate is
an insult to the taxpayers of British Columbia and is chump change
because it
doesn't include the Olympic-sized spending blowout on projects promised
in the
original bid," said Maureen Bader, B.C. Director of the CTF. "We know
the Convention Centre, the Canada Line and the Sea-to-Sky highway
upgrade
together cost almost $4 billion dollars -- its time the government
admitted
these were Olympic costs and give taxpayers a full account of the
Games."
The CTF is not alone in
calling for complete transparency on all taxpayer-funded costs. A December 2008
letter from the Auditor General to the provincial government said
that the
"full cost of staging the Games should include a number if items that
are
not included in the official budget." In 2006, the Auditor General's
report estimated the costs of the 2010 Olympic Games at $2.5 billion and
outlined risks that showed the costs could go much higher.
"The government must
stop downplaying the total cost of the Games and come clean," said
Bader.
"If we start adding up all the extras such as: the $560,000 to pay
bureaucrats to volunteer at the Games; the tens of millions paid out by
BC
Crown Corporations for Olympic tickets and sponsorships; and the $600
million
cost of the 2010 Secretariat, we'll get a better idea of the true cost
of the
Games."
Here in a video nutshell is the essence of what Kenny Blacksmith, Lynda Prince and others have been working on for months. This short clip is a good intro to the whole concept of forgiveness and reconciliation around the issue of the residential schools and the Prime Minister's apology in June of 2008.
The
G8 and G20 summits are now over. While we are closer to knowing the
final
costs, it’s unclear if there will be any long-term benefits for Canadian
taxpayers in exchange for the large amounts of tax dollars that were
spent.
That is unless Mr. Harper decides to send the same anti-deficit message
to our
provinces as was sent to debt-laden countries like Portugal, Italy,
Greece and
Spain (PIGS) during the summits. (image: flickr/subterrainea tourist
board)
As
for the summit costs, the final figures aren’t all in, but direct costs
alone
to host the three day G8 and G20 summits are projected to range from
$1.2 to
$1.4 billion. However, the total summit cost is substantially higher.
There are
indirect costs due to damaged property, prosecution costs of those
arrested and
of course the promises our politicians made to spend even more taxpayer
money.
Money
was committed by Canada -- $400 million -- to fund developing world
efforts to
reduce so-called man-made climate change. As well, Canada has committed
another
$1.1 billion over five years to improve maternal health in the
developing
world.
This
puts taxpayers on the hook for around a $3 billion summit.
It
is hard to relate to a number with nine zeros on the end, especially, it
seems,
for summit organizers. Consider this: taxpayers paid as much for the
summit as
it costs to fund the whole budget of the province of Prince Edward
Island for a
whole year or the same amount of money the United Nations spends on
water and
sanitation sectors in sub-Saharan Africa for more than 18 months.
The
alleged crown jewel from the summit was the austerity clause. It’s an
agreement
that governments cut their deficits in half over three years.
It
shouldn’t take a $1.4 billion meeting to get governments around the
world to
understand the same premise families all around the world know very
well: you
can’t continue to spend more than you earn. Yet, if other countries do
not get
their spending under control they will likely come begging for more from
Canada. Remember, Canada just committed up to $10 billion in loans for
Greece.
Importantly,
these
deficit targets are not nearly aggressive enough for Canada. The
federal
government is already in its third year of deficits with at least four
or five
more years projected in the red. Prime Minister Harper projects Canada
will
beat the meager deficit target in two years -- based on promises made in
the
last two budgets. Ironically, the cost of this summit and the subsequent
spending promises will only add more to Canada’s $49.2 billion federal
debt
this year.
While
Canada is often heralded as the poster-boy of fiscal austerity, it’s
only
partially true if you look strictly at the federal government. When
other
levels of government are brought into the picture, the poster-boy starts
to
look more like an aging rocker than Justin Bieber.
Canada’s
per
capita total public indebtedness ($32,506) in fact, is a lot better
than
Italy ($44,657) but is only a little better than Greece ($35,403). Worse
still,
according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Canada ranks 21st worst of
the 30
OECD countries, worse than two of the PIGS, Portugal ($18,959) and Spain
($23,962). The reason for this is that our provinces are running up huge
deficits as well. With only one taxpayer, total public debt is what
matters,
not just that of the federal government.
Perhaps
instead of only focusing on the federal debt Mr. Harper should consider
the G20
commitment to apply to total public debt in Canada. This would require
him to
push the provinces hard to get their budgets back under control. After
all, if
it is important for Greece and Italy, it should be just as important for
Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
The newest and fastest-growing branch of the CHP in Canada----the Skeena-Bulkley Valley CHP Youth Caucus----is drawing attention across the country as young people in Northern BC are pouring their energy and enthusiasm into practical efforts to transform society! The group has had several fundraisers and is reaching out to young people across the riding who have a heart for righteousness and a willingness to roll up their sleeves to see Canada lead the world with sound family values, a respect for human life and the personal freedoms we all cherish.
by Maureen Bader Canadian Taxpayers Federation
