(UPDATE 7:20PM EST:
(BlazingCatFur is rounding up the blogosphere/MSM responses in one post. BCF even emailed the Canadian Arab Federation to ask what they thought of the ruling — and they answered!)
***
Mark Steyn just posted this on his homepage:
Their Marsupial Majesties at the British Columbia “Human Rights” Tribunal have dismissed El-Mo’s complaint against Maclean’s and voted unanimously to acquit the hatemongers… I’ll be discussing the verdict later today after 6.30pm Mountain Time with Rob Breakenridge on 770 CHQR Calgary.
But what’s with the “but”?
Well, now we’ll get to hear, “It’s cuz we iz Muslims, init?” for the next 10 years. Jews have always won their HRC cases against neo-Nazis, and Christians always lose to gays; the optics are bad all around.
Mohammed Al-Sharpton will say, “This verdict is just as Islamophobic as Steyn’s articles. They even released it on a Friday because that’s our holy day!”
And the cycle will continue in appeal.
Reaction from around the web (to be updated), with all the “old hands” in this matter on deck first:
Michelle Malkin
Nicolas Packwood
Jay Currie
Denyse O’Leary
Pundita
Deborah Gyapong
And of course — FreeMarkSteyn.com
Chat about it over at the Western Standard (Ezra Levant’s old mag, now online).
Here’s a link to our Pajamas Media interview about the case and our book, from earlier this week.
My apologies to everyone I’ve left off (for now) but have a quickie article to write about this for Pajamas Media. Send me your blog links and I will post them later, I SWEAR.
Here’s my publisher’s press release about today’s verdict:
MARK STEYN NOT GUILTY OF “FLAGRANT ISLAMOPHOBIA,”SAYS TRIBUNALAUTHORS OF NEW BOOK ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS
CALL VERDICT THE EXCEPTION WITHIN A SYSTEM
STACKED AGAINST THE ACCUSED
TORONTO (October 10, 2008) — Today, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal handed down a not-guilty verdict in the case of Maclean’s magazine and its columnist Mark Steyn.
The case, prompted by charges of “flagrant Islamophobia” made against Steyn and Maclean’s by the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), focused critical attention on Canada’s controversial Human Rights Commissions. Today, the Tribunal ruled that Mark Steyn and Maclean’s did not violate the human rights of the complainants merely by reporting facts and accurately quoting sources.
The Steyn trial, along with other lesser known but equally troubling cases, are chronicled in the new book The Tyranny of Nice: How Canada crushes freedom in the name of human rights, written by Kathy Shaidle and Pete Vere.
Authors Kathy Shaidle and Pete Vere commented today on the verdict in the Steyn & Maclean’s case:
“Unfortunately, this decision is only a partial victory for Mark Steyn, Maclean’s magazine and every other writer and publisher in Canada.
“This Kafkaesque trial cost taxpayers dearly, while many Canadians struggle to make ends meet.
“More importantly, it cost Canada its international reputation as a free, just and tolerant country. While Steyn and Maclean’s won, most defendants are found guilty; the HRCs boast of a nearly 100% rate of conviction.
“We can only hope that this case and all the others chronicled in our book will help make the continued existence of Canada’s out of control, draconian Human Rights Commissions an issue in the coming federal election.
“If elected Prime Minister, what will Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion, Jack Layton or Elizabeth May do to rein in the powers of human rights commissions and protect freedom of speech and freedom of the press?”
CONTACT:
Kathy Shaidle (co-author):
kshaidle@rogers.comPete Vere (co-author):
petevere@msn.com
