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Alberta Human Rights Commission Gags Pastor, Orders Him To Pay $7,000
By John Clarke June 10th, 2008 In the latest of a series of anti-Christian rulings by Canadian Human Rights Commissions, Pastor Stephen Boissoin was ordered to forever desist from expressing his views on homosexuality in any kind of public forum. He was also ordered to pay the court costs of the man who issued the complaint against him, Dr. Darren Lund. Dr. Darren Lund is a well known anti-Christian activist. While not homosexual himself, he nonetheless brought charges before the Commission, which like most Human Rights Commissions in Canada, has all of the authority, but none of the accountability (or clear written laws) of an actual court of law. Recent high profile cases brought before HRC's include prosecutions of journalists reporting on Islam, a church hall for cancelling (and refunding) a booking to host a gay wedding reception, and a printer who politely refused to print materials promoting gay activism, and three mayors who failed to proclaim gay pride days and weeks. No party ever hauled before an HRC in Alberta has ever been found innocent of charges. The charges stem from a 2002 letter to the editor Pastor Boissoin wrote to The Red Deer Advocate (Red Deer is a town in Alberta between Calgary and Edmonton). In it he wrote:
From kindergarten class and on, our children, your grandchildren are being strategically targeted, psychologically abused and brainwashed by homosexual and pro-homosexual educators. Our children are being victimized by repugnant and pre-mediated strategies, aimed at desensitizing and eventually recruiting our young children into their camps. Furthermore...children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights.
Judge (and former divorce lawyer) Lori Andreachuk, in ordering Pastor Boissoin to pay Lunds court costs, noted that, "Dr. Lund, although not a direct victim, did expend considerable time and energy and suffered ridicule and harassment as a result of his complaint. The Panel finds therefore that he is entitled to some compensation." She also ordered, "Mr. Boissoin and [his organization] The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. shall cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the Internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals." Pastor Boissoin is also ordered to refrain from uttering disparaging remarks about Lund. Pastor Boissoin is also ordered to, "...provide Dr. Lund with a written apology for the article in the Red Deer Advocate which was the subject of this complaint." This is despite the court's declaration that Lund suffered no damages. While not as high profile as the HRC's prosecution of Ezra Levant and MacLeans Magazine for a Mark Steyn article, this case has garnered a lot of attention on both sides of the border. Some are calling the HRC's kangaroo courts, and people on both the left and right of the political spectrum are in an uproar over this violation of free speech. There has been an outpouring of support for Pastor Boissoin from a number of sources, some of them surprising. Gilles Marchildon of EGALE, a homosexual lobby group wrote:
While it is difficult to support Boissoin’s right to spew his misguided and vitriolic thoughts, support his right, we must. If Boissoin was no longer able to share his views, then who might be next in also having their freedom of expression limited. Traditionally, the LGBT community’s freedom has been repressed by society and its laws.
Ezra Levant, a journalist who is himself under fire from the Alberta Human Rights Commission (and is firing back), wrote, "Alberta claims to be the freest province in Canada. But it can no longer make that claim, not when Christian pastors are ordered to commit a Maoist self-renunciation." In response to the decision, Pastor Boissoin wrote:
All across Canada, Pastors, Priests, Christian Teachers and private citizens that vocalize their disagreement with the pro-gay social engineering of our society, are being brought before various forms of Kangaroo Courts. These morally liberal activists are opposed to our Constitutional freedoms of speech and religion. They persecute us for our opposing beliefs and for speaking out against their agenda. As one journalist put it, their rallying cry is, “If I hate what you say, I’ll accuse you of hate.” This agenda is attempting to manipulate and deceive society into accepting homosexuality, pro-gay school curriculums that omit any balanced opinion, gay marriage, gay adoption etc, as if these were normal behaviours. THEY ARE NOT!!! They are attemtping to slience any opposition to their agenda by deeming it hateful, fanatical, homophobic, bigoted. Those that have the courage to voice opposition, no matter how qualified, are targeted for re-education, persecution and prosecution.
His tone remains defiant:
In regards to the recent absurd ruling by the AHRC, let me be clear, I will never apologize regardless of the consequences and I will not pay fines unless failing to do so prevents my ability to appeal. I stand by my right to have an opinion and to equally express that opinon in private and in the public square. I will exercise that God given right as long as I live.
Pastor Stephen Boissoin
Dr. Darren Lund
Judge Lori Andreachuk A recent article on the decision by Ezra Levant Ezra Levants own appearance before the Alberta Human Rights Commission, part 1. The rest can be linked to from his Youtube account. The cartoon on top of the page is from the Toronto Sun.
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