Newsletter to MPs Chief Editor, Marshall Garland Contributors, Joan Felvinci and Mark Jaskela Volume Number 1, Issue Number 1, May 2017 This publication is intended for and distributed to all Members of Parliament and selected members of their staff. We welcome your feedback. Motion-103 Awareness In this issue: 1. Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms, who we are 2. An Essay on Freedom of Speech, what we stand to lose 3. Religious Apartheid Comes to Canada, a concerned Christian Canadian speaks 4. News Roundup, world events relating to our opposition of Motion- 103 Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms This newsletter for Canadian MPs is produced by Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms, a coast-to-coast grassroots organization of native-born as well as immigrant Canadians. We come from all walks of life and many diverse religious and ethnic communities. Many members of our group have long histories as human rights advocates. Our group supports the rule of law in accordance with Canadian traditions and strives to ensure freedom of expression and the equality rights of women and the LGBTQ community. We are united by our concerns about the negative impact that Motion-103 will have on Canadians' rights and freedoms currently enshrined in our Constitution. We stand together to address Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid’s Motion M-103, a motion that stands to adversely impact the ability of Canadians to express themselves freely and live without fear in a tolerant democratic society. To learn more about the Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms, please visit our web site: www.canadiancitizens.org What we are working to uphold: Canadian Rights and Freedoms from the Constitution Act 1982, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms A. GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 1. Rights and freedoms in Canada The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. B. FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS 2. Fundamental freedoms Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: a. freedom of conscience and religion; b. freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; c. freedom of peaceful assembly; and d. freedom of association. An Essay on Freedom of Speech by Joan Felvinci The author is a retired teacher of English as a Second Language. She has an MA in Art History from Columbia University and currently writes short stories and articles. She lives in Montreal. In her short essay, Joan describes the threat that Motion-103 poses to our Freedom of Speech. The other evening, Tucker Carlson on Fox News interviewed the movie star, Richard Dreyfuss. I thought I was going to hear the opinions of another Hollywood feather-brain. What I heard was astonishing. Dreyfuss stated that the Constitution defines the United States. He also said that the Ten Commandments are among the foundations of Western Civilization. He went on to say that we have lost our values, that teaching Civics in High School ended in 1976 and as a result, people under fifty-five have lost the understanding of what the Constitution stands for. Since then, we have been on a downward trajectory toward civilizational oblivion brought on by attacks on freedom of speech, resulting in political correctness. This coming from a liberal West Coast actor was incredibly refreshing, yet unfortunately, true. The undermining of our values and culture is becoming increasingly evident: allowing illegal immigrants into the U.S. and Canada, while legal immigrants wait years to get in. In addition, we are bringing over huge numbers of refugees, many of whom have no knowledge of our laws, culture or democracy and most likely have no interest in assimilating. We are kowtowing to those who would enact motions like M- 103. This motion only addresses Islamophobia, whatever that is. Yet it does nothing to prevent attacks on Christians and Jews. According to recent statistics, anti-Semitic attacks far outnumber attacks on Muslims in North America. Only on conservative blogs does one hear of Imams in Canada preaching, “Kill the Jews”. This will never be reported in the mainstream media. How many Muslims speak up for our values or condemn these rants against Jews? Very few. Only B’nai Brith or CIJA have protested these Imams, most likely to no avail. Motions like M-103 will eventually end in limiting freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means you should be able to say anything you want about any group of people so long as you do not instigate violence. Saying “kill the Jews” is instigation to violence and this kind of language will only get worse until it results in violence. It is already happening in Europe. The United States, thankfully, has the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech but even there, freedom of speech is under attack on University campuses. Yet, even though Canada has laws to protect freedom of speech, these laws can easily be eroded by motions like M-103. The result could be imprisonment for posting politically incorrect statements on social media. Conservative bloggers could be fined or jailed for what is called, “Islamophobia”. If the undermining of freedom of speech continues, we will be living in George Orwell’s “1984” within a very short time. The other evening, Tucker Carlson on Fox News interviewed the movie star, Richard Dreyfuss. I thought I was going to hear the opinions of another Hollywood feather-brain. What I heard was astonishing. Dreyfuss stated that the Constitution defines the United States. He also said that the Ten Commandments are among the foundations of Western Civilization. He went on to say that we have lost our values, that teaching Civics in High School ended in 1976 and as a result, people under fifty-five have lost the understanding of what the Constitution stands for. Since then, we have been on a downward trajectory toward civilizational oblivion brought on by attacks on freedom of speech, resulting in political correctness. This coming from a liberal West Coast actor was incredibly refreshing, yet unfortunately, true. The undermining of our values and culture is becoming increasingly evident: allowing illegal immigrants into the U.S. and Canada, while legal immigrants wait years to get in. In addition, we are bringing over huge numbers of refugees, many of whom have no knowledge of our laws, culture or democracy and most likely have no interest in assimilating. We are kowtowing to those who would enact motions like M- 103. This motion only addresses Islamophobia, whatever that is. Yet it does nothing to prevent attacks on Christians and Jews. According to recent statistics, anti-Semitic attacks far outnumber attacks on Muslims in North America. Only on conservative blogs does one hear of Imams in Canada preaching, “Kill the Jews”. This will never be reported in the mainstream media. How many Muslims speak up for our values or condemn these rants against Jews? Very few. Only B’nai Brith or CIJA have protested these Imams, most likely to no avail. Motions like M-103 will eventually end in limiting freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means you should be able to say anything you want about any group of people so long as you do not instigate violence. Saying “kill the Jews” is instigation to violence and this kind of language will only get worse until it results in violence. It is already happening in Europe. The United States, thankfully, has the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech but even there, freedom of speech is under attack on University campuses. Yet, even though Canada has laws to protect freedom of speech, these laws can easily be eroded by motions like M-103. The result could be imprisonment for posting politically incorrect statements on social media. Conservative bloggers could be fined or jailed for what is called, “Islamophobia”. If the undermining of freedom of speech continues, we will be living in George Orwell’s “1984” within a very short time. Summary: Richard Dreyfuss' opinions on the Constitution of the U.S. The concern about illegal immigrants, refugees and the undermining of our values and culture. Concern that Motion 103 will ultimately result in limiting freedom of speech. The significance of the limitations on freedom of speech. Religious Apartheid Comes to Canada by Mark Jaskela Mark is a writer, artist and activist residing in the Greater Vancouver area. Mark writes about how Motion-103 sows discord in our society and poses a menace to all Canadians by introducing religious apartheid. He describes how Motion-103 makes Canadian Christians vulnerable and threatened. a-par-theid, n. Domestically, our country's recent welcoming of 1. (in South Africa) a thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees bespeaks a policy of racial Canada that is benevolent to a fault. Motion M- segregation that 103, a political concoction that, if unchecked, will began appearing inevitably result in the trampling down of the shortly before 1900; rights of all Canadian citizens, is something a form of fascism. distinctly other than benevolent. Unheeded or 2. segregation on otherwise absent from the public dialogue about grounds other than M-103, to whatever extent there's even been any, race, have been the voices of Muslim immigrants who e.g., sexual or will cite the menacing authoritarianism the motion religious apartheid. augurs as the kind of thing that prompted them to leave their countries of origin. The federal government disregarded over nine hundred thousand emails of protest from Canadian citizens, doing so with a callous indifference to the will of the people not seen since Marie Antoinette supposedly said "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", ("Let them eat cake") to the starving French peasantry.