By Neil Dykstra
If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Similarly, if a Human Rights Tribunal rides roughshod over our inalienable rights and freedoms, but nobody hears about it, will anyone care?
The BC Human Rights Tribunal is betting on just that – if they can keep their abusive processes a secret, nobody will raise much of a fuss about the constraints and restrictions that they are piling up on our liberties. It is with particular irony that I broach this subject at this particular time of year, when we pay homage to those who have fought and died for our freedoms. Institutions like the provincial and federal Human Rights Commissions are successfully doing with subtlety what the Axis powers attempted to do with force.
The BCHRT is currently dealing with a complaint between a business development organization and drug user advocates in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. This particular district is known worldwide for its concentration of drug addicts, and the associated ills of poverty, crime, and mental illness. Law-abiding residents and businesses are plagued with petty thefts, vandalism, and the health hazards of discarded used drug paraphernalia. The outnumbered police are ineffective, handcuffed on one side by revolving-door judges and on the other by local civil libertarians who fight tooth and nail for real and fictional rights of addicts, but not law-abiding citizens.
One business association is doing what it can to make parts of the district more friendly to business, which is essential to the revitalization of any neighborhood. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) has put in place an Ambassador system. Trained civilian Ambassadors are intended to provide a street presence, in order to deter activities such as panhandling, littering, illegal vending, and graffiti. They also assist the public by providing directions or escorts as needed. From what I’ve heard, the program, despite its high costs, has been a resounding success; business owners have noticed a marked improvement in safety and sidewalk appeal.
Enter the drug addicts and their activists. Two organizations, the Pivot Legal Society and Vancouver Network of Drug Users (VANDU) submitted a complaint in July 2008 to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. They alleged “systemic discrimination against homeless people by the ambassadors, who target homeless people and panhandlers on the streets and sidewalks and force them to move along.” Something tells me that the ambassadors would encourage anyone, regardless of socioeconomic group, to move along if they spread trash around, swore at and demanded money from passers-by, and damaged public and private property. But I digress.
Moving along, the BCHRT has begun to investigate this complaint, bringing in both parties to evaluate the merits of the complaint and to try to mediate a settlement. As I mentioned before, these proceedings are held in secret, supposedly to “protect privacy”.
Earlier, Charles Gauthier, the executive director of the DVBIA made it public that the complainants have no documentary evidence whatsoever to support any claims in the complaint. In a real court, proceeding with any allegation in the absence of documented evidence, such as witness statements, would be ludicrous. Such a revelation justly brought the entire Tribunal process into disrepute.
But the Tribunal fought back in the only way it knows how. It fined the DVBIA $2000, payable to the complainants of course, for violating the confidentiality of the mediation period. The reason? The disclosure “had a significant impact on the integrity of the Tribunal’s processes.”
No kidding. If the Tribunal had its way, we might all soon be liable for stating the obvious – that the Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals don’t have a shred of integrity. The Tribunal itself revealed that its confidentiality policy has nothing to do with privacy and everything to do with protecting the Commissions and Tribunals from the prying eyes of the public.
The complaint has already cost the DVBIA $30,000 in legal fees, even though no evidence has been presented to back up the allegations of the activist groups. There is no chance that they will recover their costs, even if the allegations are proven false. Now add a $2000 fine to their burden for daring to speak about the miscarriages of justice occurring behind closed doors.
Neil Dykstra leads a local chapter of the Association for Reformed Political Action, and lives in B.C.
Public date: November 12th, 2009Categories: Opinion
Tags: British Columbia, drug abuse, Free Speech, human rights, Human Rights Commissions
