The Rants of Issachar

I posted this a couple of weeks ago about Ezra Levant getting hauled up in front of Alberta's so-called "Human Rights" commission for printing those Muhammad cartoons in the Western Standard.

I also read an interesting post on Mr. Levant's blog last night.

I think the commission is in a bit of a pickle: if they prosecute me, they will precipitate another storm of public derision, and perhaps even political action. But if they acquit me -- in the face of my bald-faced contempt for them, and my de facto plea of "guilty!" -- they consent to their own abuse, and set a precedent for others called before them.

Contempt would indeed be the word to describe it. It was a very smart move to tape the interrogation. Personally I think this whole episode shows that we need to rethink the whole idea of Human Rights Commissions in Canada. They're a noble idea, but the practical implementation, (and implications), are lousy.

I also gather from the quote that Mr. Levant isn't technically being prosecuted by the commission, only investigated. Unfortunately, in the case of human rights commissions, that's a distinction without a difference. Human Rights Inquiries are quasi-legal proceedings without the normal protections for the accused that we have in our legal system. So if someone is being investigated, they need to defend themselves.