“The entire process is skewed. Most obviously in that complainants get a free ride and defendants pay full legal freight. The taxpayers of Alberta paid for Levant’s interrogation. A lawyer from the Alberta Attorney General’s office was present at the Boissoin-Lund panel.
“This meant that, unlike the procedure in a genuine court, even if the defendant wins, he loses — money, if nothing else — and even if the complainant loses, he wins by ensuring that potential critics will think twice about speaking up.
(…)
“Incidentally, the government lawyer at the Boissoin-Lund panel asked me one of the strangest questions I have ever answered in many cross-examinations as a so-called expert witness. ‘How,’ he asked, would I ‘distinguish’ Boissoin’s letter to the Red Deer Advocate from Hitler’s Mein Kampf? I resisted the temptation to give the reply that came immediately to mind and provided a more or less civil answer…”
(…)
“What is said, which is the actual exercise of a right of free speech, is entirely up to the individual whose right to do so is secured by the government. Likewise, forced attendance at a party rally is not an example of the right of assembly.
“Similarly, it is acceptable for a constitutional government to make it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the grounds of ethnicity or religion or, indeed, sexual orientation in hiring. But it would be improper for the law to require an employer to hire a German, a Buddhist or a heterosexual because such a requirement would infringe upon the employer’s freedom to contract.”
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