As promised , I took copious notes last night at the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Public Affairs (CCEPA) debate on human rights and free speech. Rather than pronounce my verdict on the evening, I’ve decided initially to share my notes online so everyone can draw their own conclusions.
This post will cover only the opening remarks of the four speakers. This portion occupied about 30 minutes of a two-hour meeting, so there will be more to come.
NB: These are my notes, not an official transcript. I stand by the accuracy of these notes as an honest reflection of what was said, but what appears below should not taken as a verbatim record of the proceedings. (I have speakers using the pronoun “I” for convenience, not to suggest direct quotation.)
CCEPA will make available a DVD of the evening’s discussion in about three weeks.
I estimate that 80-100 people came to the hall at St Mary’s University, which has a capacity of approximately 300.
The four panelists spoke in this order:
Dan Leger, Director of News Content, Halifax Chronicle Herald
Krista Daley, Director and CEO, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (NSHRC)
Mark Mercer, Professor of Philosophy, Saint Mary’s University.
Pearl Eliadis, Montreal Human Rights Lawyer
The moderator was Kevin Kindred, Lawyer and Chair of the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project.
The presentation began with Chris Stover, General Manager, Canadian Centre for Ethics in Public Affairs, who welcomed us to the evening’s event and introduced the moderator.
Kevin Kindred Opening Remarks
He welcomed us to a debate on an issue that is important but sometimes volatile. He will try to be as impartial moderator. He himself is a lawyer and human rights activist on behalf of homosexual rights, but will put that aside this evening. He will try to ensure that we hear from all four panelists equally.
The human rights vs free speech controversy has been called the perfect storm of public policy issues.
He mentioned three legal cases that, in his view, exemplify the issues:
1. Stephen Boissoin, complaint brought by Darren Lund
-case decided in Alberta
2. Craig Harrison, complaint brought by Richard Warman
-case heard by Canadian HRC
3. Macleans, complaint brought by three Muslim students
-complaint considered by three jurisdictions, none of which sustained the complaint: Canada, Ontario, BC
Each speaker will make an opening statement. Then I will ask questions of the speakers, then members of the audience will be able to ask questions.
Dan Leger Opening Statement
I’m not an expert in human rights; I’m a journalist. I receive complaints and special pleadings about newspaper articles every day; people insist on a right to rebut or dispute.
We live in a marketplace of ideas. Some people don’t like that. I am a small-l liberal....
(I'm happy to see Scott is back in business at his (post-retirement) blog Nova Scotia Scott. Hope he likes the new digs! Nova Scotians are well known for their hospitality! )
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