Not Guilty, But Guilty Nonetheless

I'm working on preparing a report on the whole Human Rights Commission fiasco here in Canada. It's a big enough task to review the last three or so months worth of news on the issue, without more news breaking every day. Case in point: the Ontario Human Rights Commission today formally announced that it will not proceed with the complaint against Maclean's Magazine. A few thoughts on the statement:

The Ontario Commission decided not to proceed with the complaints because it lacks legal jurisdiction to do so under the Ontario Code. The Commission has found that the content of the magazine and Maclean’s refusal to provide the complainants with space in the magazine for a rebuttal, are not goods or services within the meaning of the Code. The Commission has also found that s. 13(1) of the Code, which prohibits displaying or publishing a notice, sign, symbol, emblem or other similar representation with the intent to infringe human rights or to incite others to do so, cannot be interpreted to include the content of the magazine article in issue.

Given the lengths HRCs go to in order to bolster their cases, and given other remoreless over-reaching, this is remarkable restraint. On the other hand, given the intense scrutiny the HRCs are facing, it could just as easily be cowardice.

Racism exists in the media and the media has a significant role to play in either combating societal racism or refraining from communicating and reproducing it. Islamophobia is a form of racism that includes stereotypes, bias or acts of hostility towards Muslims and the viewing of Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.

Giving the made-up word 'Islamophobia' the benefit of the doubt, we can assume it to mean 'irrational fear of Islam'. No matter how you define Islam, it is not a race. Even its adherents, Muslims, are not a race. But I guess it's true because the HRCs say so.

Semantics aside, let me get this straight: racism includes viewing Muslims as a greater threat to society? Unless Muslims - or, more probably, the HRCs - own racism, we should be able to substitute Christians for Muslims. Oh, wait. It's well accepted that those scary Christians are a greater threat to society, and that's not racism.

The press release associated with the statement includes this gem:

While freedom of expression must be recognized as a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, the Commission strongly condemns the Islamophobic portrayal of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and indeed any racialized community in the media, such as the Maclean’s article and others like them, as being inconsistent with the values enshrined in our human rights codes. Media has a responsibility to engage in fair and unbiased journalism.

At least this time the HRC makes an attempt to identify some actual races in connection with 'Islamophobia'. You see, you don't need to be a race to be a victim of racism - you just need the HRC to declare you to be 'racialized'.

Semantics again aside, read between the lines. The Ontario Human Rights Act does not give the HRC jurisdiction over magazine content, but in the end the HRC still claims jurisdiction - "the Commission strongly condemns... the Maclean's article..." Guilty until proven innocent. More at SteynOnline.