jights councils are Still Bother band IT had to come. The Human Rights Gestapo has now got around to telling hotels what meetings may or may not be held on their premises, In Edmonton, a group calling itself The Third Option was to have held a conference Oct. 18, 19 and 20 on the future of Canada. Constitutional reform was to have been on the agenda, plus national unity. Two hundred people had signed to attend. ' But leftists and pressure _ groups disapproved of some of the speakers and the Alberta Human Rights Commission “advised” the Coast Terrace Inn to cancel. Which it did Here we see the war on words being conducted once again by David Lethbridge, the Okanagan college instruc- tor who is a self-proclaimed cominunist and founder of head of the Salmon Arm Coalition Against Racism. Lethbridge wrote a 10- page letter to the hotel man- agement denouncing some of the speakers as “racists and anti-Semites.” They. had not yet spoken so no one knew what was going ta be said or‘ how con- stitutional reform could assume sinister proportions, "Tt was enough, owever, that the wrong people were - speaking. -In this case, Lethbridge stated that The Third Option is a “sub- branch” of the Canadian League of Rights, which is headed by Ron Gostick, who.’ fights for traditional Canada’ and has broken no laws. In 1992 Lethbridge 7 ™, showed his intellectual capaci-, ties oy “mooning” a Gostick meeting in Salmon Arm at a ‘demonstration be had per- suaded simple-minded stu- dents to attend. op? What matters here is not nincompco very and censor- ship dressed’ up a as political morality; but'the role of tax- payer-supported thought police in the field of public discussion: * » Nazi Germany had i it. Soviet Russia had it. And now we've got it. In lesser form, it is true. So far. The story hit the Edmonton Journal on Sept. ‘21 and is a sample of how twisted the words “human rights” have become. “Commission chair » Charlach MacKintosh said he | _advised hotel manager Werner Simm to cancel the booking -because of some of the speak- ersinvolved. “He said he didn’t know who else would be attending and said he had no intorma- tion about planned racist “activities.” Read that again. He didn’t know and he had no informa- tion. But he “advised” any way. Some speakers weren't ‘of : SS a Ing our freedo: the right ilk, you see. It shouldn't have mattered if he did know. We used to have sornething, called free speech; we also accepted that people were innocent until they are proved guilty. But the human rights mob thinks otherwise. MacKintosh said he had been informed there was “the possibility of demonstrations which might easily lead to violence.” Who informed him? Those who didn’t want the meeting? And since when has violence been the responsibility of our misnamed Human Rights Commissions? And who would organize the violence? The people at the conference? Of course not. it would be the same kind of leftist rabble who have rioted in Toronto. But the last time I looked, the reg- ular police were supposed to ensure that pub- lic meetings are held without interference. It used to be that peaceable assembly was a Canadian right. The Alberta Human Rights Commission disagrees.’ The manager of the hotel underlined the role of the commission. Ina letter to Paul Fromm of the Toronto-based Canadian Association for Free Expression he elaimed that the cancellation was due “not to David Lethbridge but to the information provided by DRAPERIES & BLINDS BY “Tt used to be that peace- terH able assembly was a Canadian right. The Alberta Human Rights Commission disagrees.” the Alberta Human Rights Commission after their inves- dgation.” He had sent Lethbridge’s letter to them, however, A University of Alberta philosophy professor, Roger Shiner, had the grace to say that “even bigots have a right to meet and discuss constitu- tional reform.” Watch it, Shiner. Prior restraint is not allowed, he went on. “You can’t say this is what these people are going to say even before they say it and so we're going t0 haul them into court and stop them saying Don’t be so sure. That's the way things are going. Here in B.C.a bigger and bet- uman Rights Council gets into action Jan. 1 witha mandate to ini- tiate complaints on behalf of people who have made no complaints. And to walk into offices looking, for incriminat- ing material. Meanwhile, if I go to Edmonton remind me not to stay at the Coast Terrace Inn. The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself. S. LAURSEN & SON custom DRAPERIES, TRACKS AND BEDSPREADS Labour $9.50 per panel unlined, $10.50 lined. At tow, law prices. AE p For F IE Estimates cali 987-2966 (Ask about Seniors’ Discounts ) Serving the Nerth Shore for 25 years | Defieux-Saxelby Insurance Services Inc. i Wednesday, October 2, 1996 — North Stiore News ~— GREAT FALL SAVINGS UF 100% COTTON GARMENT- DYED FLEECE / FALL COLOURS Sizes 4-14 Crew 4-6x 7-14 Pant 4-6x 7-14 24.99 UFOS CORD PANTS FALL COLOURS 12-24mo. 21.99 14° 23.99 16° 24.99 16* - | Osh Kosh Jackets iy Boys’ & girls’ winter parka ges ,!2mo-30mo reg. 70.00 5 feg. 95.00 79" Adidas Crew Top o or Fleece Pant Navy & black, size 7-14 Sug. ret. 35.00 Outerwear — Special Purchase Infants-3x 1 pce., 2 pce. Jackets _— 99 50% off sugg. retail 39.99 Ss al e 749 " . . . Lo ; | . . | E FOLO STORE VANCOUVER - THE LANDING 375 Water St (604)682-7656 Victoria - 1200 GOVERNMENT St. (604)381 -7656 ' 7 TEENIE * KIDZ.BIZ: *.KIDZ BIZ