It’s been a while, but I’m still in Waterloo puttering away at my minor. Two topics: Canadian Election and Hate Speech/Crimes.

I’m glad that it looks like we won’t be having an election this Fall. My reason is not the common one being thrown around, that we are in a recession. I’d like to note that it appears that the recession ended in June. I don’t want an election because I want the Liberal party to spend more time developing policy. Furthermore, I would like to see the House reorganized as is being proposed, as it will be more reflective of demographics and fairer representation.

This doesn’t mean that I support the current government. I am outraged at the $56+ billion deficit (caused partly by the stupid populist move to lower the GST – BTW, I’m pro HST). I’m not against deficits in bad times, but this is due to mismanagement. I’m upset that the government has ruled out introducing carbon taxes. I’m upset at Harper’s attacks on our judicial system. Ignatieff had a great speech in the House that I think everyone should watch.

The other topic that I want to talk on is about hate speech. I have in the past been supportive of laws against speech that advocates violence. I now am opposed to it. First, I’d like to note that just because a law is constitutional, doesn’t mean that we should have it. I note that as Hate Speech laws are constitutional as a result of R. v. Keegstra. I personally side with Chief Justice McLachlin’s dissent (a Justice that Canadians should be proud to have), but the reality is that the law is constitutional now.

To me it comes down to the idea that your actions and not your thoughts/speech are which should be punished. The reality is that the current laws are not used for cases where an individual is advocating violence, but when they say things which people are offended. The Human Rights Tribunals/Commissions are being used to silence thoughts people don’t like. An example was the Mark Steyn case, while ultimately dismissed, demonstrates the problems with the law. I read Steyn’s book, and while I found it to be garbage, it was not hate speech.

There are numerous other examples of cases resulting from section 13.1 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. It should be abolished. Similarly, I disagree with hate crime legislation. It effectively also punishes beliefs such as racism and homonegativity, which are not – and should not – be illegal. There are statutes to deal with the crimes, including assault and organizing violence. While I find attacks like the one last month in TBay abhorrent, their beliefs are not what matters, only their actions and intent to harm.

Currently Listening to: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Random Wikipedia Link: Panopticism