Mark Steyn - Not Alone for Long

I thought this whole deal between Mark Steyn and the Canadian Human Rights Commission would eventually just go away. Like a fool, I thought the Canadian Islamic Congress would rattle some sabers, get their names in the papers, and that would be that.

The short story of this sordid affair is that Maclean's ran an excerpt of Steyn's book, America Alone. In it, Steyn says that the demographics of the world are swinging the jihadists' way. He goes on to quote a European imam, who says that Muslims are breeding like "mosquitos."

So who gets nailed for hate speech? No, not the man who made the mosquito remark, but Mark Steyn. Quotation marks are apparently no defense, and students should bear this in mind the next time they do a history essay on Hitler.

The CIC apparently told Maclean's that they wanted to run a rebuttal of Steyn's piece. However, they wanted to control the art that went with it and they told Maclean's that it had to be a cover story.

As any neophyte writer knows, you're not going to get very far telling an editor that your piece must appear on their cover. Even submitting an essay with a title on it shows you to be an amateur. It's editors that make the headlines. So telling an editor, "You will run my piece, you will not edit it, it will be on the cover, and we will give you the art," is a quick way to be told to go screw yourself.

Which is the way it should be. You want to be a writer and play the game? Then get on the field and play it. But don't try to strongarm any publication with accusations of racism and "human rights" violations.

Yes, that's right. Maclean's is included in the -- insult? indictment? charge? -- and they are going to be trussed up and tossed before the three - yes, three - human rights commissions in Canada (BC, Ontario, and the big dog Canadian Human Rights Commission, which is apparently around in case the provincial ones fumble).

But what about freedom of speech? Phah! Here's Terry Downey, a former "human rights" investigator:

"We need to make sure that folks are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of who it is , whether it's Maclean's or anybody...People have a right to freedom of expression but that has some restrictions on it. You just can't offend people based on their religion or color or things like that." -- Reuters.

The most terrifying part of that statement is "...things like that."

Well, what things exactly?

If you're a Canadian and you don't think this impacts your life, you're wrong. The next time you write anything - a blog, a letter, an email - you could be committing a human rights violation. Get in line behind Steyn and find out just how far your freedoms take you before the thought police give you a lesson in Canadian liberties.