Jay Currie

Kevin Michael Grace was called as a witness in an earlier Human Rights Tribunal matter. Here he is being cross examined.

Kurz: You don’t think that human rights legislation should deal in any way with any form of restriction of freedom of speech. Is that what you are saying?

KMG: I don’t believe in human rights legislation.

Kurz: You don’t believe in human rights legislation?

Grace: No, I do not.

Kurz: Why is that?

KMG: Because I believe that certain things are criminal and certain things are not criminal. I think that human rights tribunals fall between two stools. I think, if someone has committed a crime against the Criminal Code, you find the evidence and try them. Other than that, I don’t believe in it. the ambler

There has been a fair bit of chatter about how Human Rights Tribunals represent a less formal, cheaper, means of redressing the grievances of people who believe they have been discriminated against. And that is a good argument when it comes to relatively trivial questions of housing or employment discrimination.

The question is, do we want cheap informal law when it comes to abridging or denying completely the constitutional right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press? I think not.