Readers had good reason to be repelled by The Future Belongs to Islam, a Mark Steyn book excerpt published by Maclean’s magazine in 2006. Steyn described many Muslims as “hot for jihad,” argued that their high birth rate ensures that in Europe a “successor population” already is in place, and announced “the only question is how bloody the transfer of real estate will be.” It was an Islamophobic polemic.

That said, Maclean’s should not have been hauled before the Ontario Human Rights Commission by complainants who felt their human rights had been violated by the article’s content.

As the commission ruled this week, it lacks jurisdiction. The carefully drafted Ontario Human Rights Code covers discrimination only with respect to such things as housing, employment and the provision of goods and services. It doesn’t cover the media. Nor should it.

And while the Ontario commission rightly ruled itself out of the specific issue of the Maclean’s article, it did not stop there. The commission served notice it intends to foster a “constructive debate” on “Islamophobia in the media” and how it can be addressed.

That has an ominous ring. Canada’s Criminal Code already prohibits publicly inciting hatred through the media or other means. The libel laws also provide an outlet. And readers of newspapers such as the Star can complain to the Ontario Press Council. Surely that is protection enough in a society that cherishes freedom of the press.

Human rights commissions, federal and provincial, should stick to policing hateful acts, not words.

I have this sad feeling that the editorialist at the Star wrote this through gritted teeth, but still, it’s nice to see.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 8:44 am and is filed under Freedom of Speech, Mark Steyn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.