Ezra Levant, former publisher of the Canadian magazine Western Standard, holds the dubious distinction of being the only journalist on Earth to have faced legal sanction for publishing the infamous Mohammed cartoons that appeared first in the Jyllands-Posten. He was ordered to appear before an investigator at the Alberta Human Rights Commission, and was interrogated over his “intentions” for publishing the cartoons.
I read Shakedown recently, and it is a disturbing read. The Canadian Human Rights Commission, along with its provincial counterparts, represent a very ominous threat to freedom of speech in Canada. The cases presented in Shakedown sound like a cross between a Monty Python sketch and a chapter lifted straight out of Orwell’s 1984. They are political correctness run amok. Imagine a ridiculous scenario where a McDonalds’ worker complains to the government about the company’s hand washing policy, and not only is she paid tens of thousands of dollars not to go to work, but McDonalds had to pay her $50 000 for her “dignity” and “self respect”. This is one of the more comical cases in Shakedown. Each case presented is more terrifying than the last.
Canadians should be horrified by the soft tyranny being perpetrated by our ever-expanding government. Levant’s book should serve as a wake-up call to Canadians. I strongly recommend that any Canadian on this board read Levant’s book. Our Charter of “Rights” and “Freedoms” already does not recognize property rights. Now freedom of speech (Canuckified into “Freedom of expression” by our bureaucratic elites) is under a full frontal assault as well. Our elected government is unwilling or afraid to stop the erosion of individual rights. Do we have a representative government, or is Parliament mere window-dressing, covering up the fact that we have a tyrannical bureaucracy calling the shots?
One begins to think of Ominous Parallels when faced with this reality.
