Alas, Canada’s foolishness is now clearly contaminating the rest of the West, as Pete and I warn in our new book, The Tyranny of Nice.
Note how closely they are mimicking our HRCs, down to the actual procedures.
Gardner seeks to grant the commission powers of forced entry, search and seizure. He would apply Alice in Wonderland rules to a central pillar of our common-law justice system. Like the Queen of Hearts who cries “Off with their heads” and only then holds a trial, Gardner would reverse the onus of proof from accuser to accused. Anyone suspected of malfeasance by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission would be considered guilty until proven innocent.
There is little comfort to be found in Gardner’s recommendation to devolve the power of enforcement to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. After all, it was VCAT vice-president Michael Higgins who imposed a perpetual gag order on an evangelical Christian minister who made unflattering comments about Islam. Higgins forbade pastor Danny Nalliah “to make, publish or distribute in Victoria (including on the internet), whether in writing or orally and whether directly or indirectly, any statements and, or alternatively, information, suggestions and implications, to the same or similar effect as those found by the tribunal to have breached the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act”.
All this is frighteningly reminiscent of the situation in Canada…
(via BlazingCatFur)
