Prime Minister Stephen Harper must assure Canadians that he does not favour scrapping the Canadian Human Rights Commission in light of the fact that 20 of his MPs have endorsed plans to eliminate the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Liberal MP Bob Rae said today.
“We are very concerned, with such a large number of Conservative MPs supporting this idea, that the government could use this as a springboard to try and erode the role of the Canadian Commission,” said Mr. Rae.
Mr. Rae was responding to the fact that five Conservative cabinet ministers and 15 other Conservative MPs have endorsed candidates for the Ontario Progressive Leadership campaign who have called for the abolishment of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
So far, Transport Minister John Baird, Industry Minister Tony Clement, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, along with MPs Dean Allison, Gord Brown, Patrick Brown, Paul Calandra, Barry Devolin, Rick Dykstra, Royal Galipeau, Daryl Kramp, Pierre Poilievre, Joe Preston, Gary Schellenberger, David Sweet and David Tilson, have endorsed candidate Tim Hudak.
Conservative MPs Scott Reid and Cheryl Gallant have both endorsed candidate Randy Hillier.
Both Mr. Hudak and Mr. Hillier have made the abolishment of the Ontario Human Rights Commission a centrepiece of their campaigns for leadership.
Mr. Rae said given the Prime Minister’s viewpoints about the existence of human rights commissions, Canadians should be very concerned that he is allowing his MPs to publicly endorse promises to scrap the Ontario Commission.
Mr. Harper has said:
“Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society…It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff.” (BC Report, January 11, 1999)
“This is a Prime Minister who just doesn’t get it. Human Rights Commissions, like the Ontario Commission, provide a vital resource to the community. They are an avenue to handle claims and disputes in a manner that is far more financially accessible than litigation,” said Mr. Rae.
“They can never replace courts of law, but they help to assure that principles of fundamental justice – namely access to justice and fairness – are available to all Canadians. While we clearly have no control over what happens to the Ontario Commission, we would hate to see this ideological government use this as an excuse to attack the federal commission.”
Mr. Rae pointed out that, unlike this Conservative government, the Liberal Party of Canada is committed to human rights and the right to free speech.
“We believe in the protection of minorities and minority rights, and we support legislation, commissions and tribunals that aim for those goals. While there is always room for improvement and reform, scrapping the entire human rights-focused system is irresponsible public policy based solely on political calculation. There is no need to throw away the baby with the bathwater,” he said.
