Human rights complaints against Maclean's magazine were filed in December 2007 by Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Congress with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Maclean's magazine was accused of publishing eighteen Islamophobic articles between January 2005 and July 2007. The articles in question included a column by Mark Steyn titled "The Future Belongs to Islam", an excerpt from a book written by Steyn.The Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the complaint. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal heard the complaint in June 2008 and issued a ruling on October 10, 2008 dismissing the complaint. The Canadian Human Rights Commission dismissed the federal complaint on June 26, 2008 without referring the matter to a tribunal.
Canadian Human Rights Commission The federal Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) dismissed the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC)'s complaint against Maclean's in June 2008. The CHRC's ruling said of the article that, "the writing is polemical, colourful and emphatic, and was obviously calculated to excite discussion and even offend certain readers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike." However, the Commission ruled that overall, "the views expressed in the Steyn article, when considered as a whole and in context, are not of an extreme nature, as defined by the Supreme Court."
Faisal Joseph, lawyer for the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), responded to the decision by saying that the CIC is disappointed the tribunal made its decision without hearing "the compelling evidence of hate and expert testimony" presented in the CIC's complaint to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.
Maclean's greeted the CHRC's decision stating that it "is in keeping with our long-standing position that the article in question, 'The Future Belongs to Islam,' an excerpt from Mark Steyn's best-selling book America Alone, was a worthy piece of commentary on important geopolitical issues, entirely within the bounds of normal journalistic practice."Brean, Joseph, "Rights organization dismisses complaint against Maclean's" , National Post, June 27, 2008 The magazine also stated that "Maclean's continues to assert that no human rights commission, whether at the federal or provincial level, has the mandate or the expertise to monitor, inquire into, or assess the editorial decisions of the nation's media. And we continue to have grave concerns about a system of complaint and adjudication that allows a media outlet to be pursued in multiple jurisdictions on the same complaint, brought by the same complainants, subjecting it to costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to say nothing of the inconvenience. We enthusiastically support those parliamentarians who are calling for legislative review of the commissions with regard to speech issues."
British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal heard the case over a five-day period beginning on June 2, 2008; Mohamed Elmasry was not present. The co-complainant in this case is Naiyer Habib, the BC board director for the Canadian Islamic Congress, who filed the complaint on behalf of all Muslims in British Columbia.
Joseph Faisal, legal counsel for the Canadian Islamic Congress opened his arguments by stating that the article Maclean's published made Muslims out to be anti-Canadian and depicted Islam as "inhuman" and "violent." Faisal added that "We're prepared to deal with those articles piece by piece, paragraph by paragraph, and those things that we find objectionable."
Faisal and Habib's complaint claims that Maclean's and Steyn, who wrote the article, violated Section 7-1 of British Columbia's Human Rights Code, Under the BC Human Rights code, the complainants are not required to prove harm, or malicious intent; all that is required is a reasonable determination that the excerpt did express hatred and contempt toward Muslims, and likely caused it to spread.
Faisal implored the BC Human Rights Tribunal to take action, arguing that it is "the court of last resort. You are the only opportunity to right a terrible wrong to a clearly identifiable group numbering hundreds of thousands in this great country, and tens of thousands in the beautiful province of British Columbia. You are the only thing between racist, hateful, contemptuous Islamophobic and irresponsible journalism, and law-abiding Canadian citizens."
Mahmoud Ayoub, a historian of religion with a doctorate from Harvard University, testified that Steyn's claim in his article that Islam is "an underground movement trying to take over the world" has no basis in Islamic scripture or tradition. Ayoub disputed Steyn's interpretation of the word "jihad," asserting that the word has a variety of meanings unrelated to violence. Ayoub also disputed Steyn's portrayal of Islamic extremism as mainstream saying that the extremist fringe represented less than one million of the total 1.5 billion Muslims.
Lawyers for Maclean's defended the content as free speech. Julian Porter, the lead counsel for the magazine, asserted that Steyn's article "does not meet the standard of hatred or contempt, and that's what we'll argue later in the week". The lawyers for Maclean's did not call any witnesses during the week of hearings and instead argued against the complaint on constitutional grounds.
In his closing arguments, Faisal stated that "There has never been a case in this country that has had such clear, concise evidence, ever. There will never be any more demonstrable evidence of hatred that has been perpetrated by this article." Faisal also sharply criticized Julian Porter, one of Maclean's lawyers, stating that:
The Canadian Association of Journalists and the BC Civil Liberties Association presented a joint submission asking the tribunal to refine its interpretation of hate speech saying that previous rulings have been "overly expansive" and "have consequently brought the institutional legitimacy of the (tribunal) into question."
If Maclean's were found to have violated BC's Human Rights Code, it could have faced sanctions, including paying "an amount that the member or panel considers appropriate to compensate that person for injury to dignity, feelings and self respect or to any of them." However, Faisal has stated that he only wants the Tribunal to order Maclean's to publish "an appropriate response." The Tribunal's hearing concluded on June 8, 2008.
Comments following the hearings Steyn told the media that he was hoping the tribunal would rule against Maclean's. "We want to lose so we can take it to a real court and if necessary up to the Supreme Court of Canada and we can get the ancient liberties of free-born Canadian citizens that have been taken away from them by tribunals like this," he said. Steyn was not called to testify at the hearing but was in attendance for several of the five days of the proceedings.
The day after the hearing ended, Khurrum Awan, one of the complainants in the BC case, spoke to a meeting of the Canadian Arab Federation and complained that since Maclean's is not a member of the Ontario Press Council or any similar body there is no authority within the profession of journalism, that can "condemn the journalist, condemn the publication, direct them to publish a letter to the editor."Brean, Joseph, "Muslims told to insist on equal voice in media", National Post, June 9, 2008 Awan also stated that:
At the Niagara-on-the-Lake conference of the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies in June 2008, Wahida Valiante, national vice-president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, stated that the commissions are the only recourse available to minorities treated unfairly in the media since membership in press councils is optional and criminal hate speech charges require the consent of the federal Attorney-General.
Valiante compared Steyn to James Keegstra, an Alberta high school teacher who taught and tested his students on how Jews "created the Holocaust to gain sympathy. They basically talk about the same theories. This is not a civil dialogue." She said that, in Germany, long before the Holocaust, "it was the words that set the stage for what happened later on.... We may end up with the same fate, and that is at the heart of why [the complainants] wanted to take this on."
Haroon Siddiqui, a columnist for the Toronto Star, wrote that "Only genuine misunderstanding or deliberate distortion can explain the media's mostly one-sided discourse on the case of Maclean's before the federal, as well as the Ontario and British Columbia, human rights commissions." Siddiqui asserted that the Canadian media "do not publish racist cartoons and anti-Semitic rants" and "that Maclean's published a series of virulent articles about Muslims itself speaks volumes." Siddiqui also wrote that Mark Steyn's article was "a 4,800-word piece portraying Muslims as a menace to the West.".
Ruling On October 10, 2008, the tribunal dismissed the complaint, stating that the Maclean's article did not violate the province's human rights law.Maclean's wins third round of hate fight by Joseph Brean, National Post, October 11, 2008.
The Tribunal stated that "With all its inaccuracies and hyperbole, [the article] has resulted in political debate which, in our view, [B. C.'s hate speech human rights law] was never intended to suppress. In fact, as the evidence in this case amply demonstrates, the debate has not been suppressed and the concerns about the impact of hate speech silencing a minority have not been borne out."
Comments following the ruling Faisal Joseph, lawyer for the CIC, stated that he may appeal because the decision "sends the wrong message." In a statement, Joseph wrote that "it is now acceptable for some columnists and media in this country to cloak freedom to hate in the mantle of freedom of speech." However, Joseph also stated that:
Mark Steyn, who wrote the offending article, felt that his high-profile status prevented sanctions, adding that,
and that "The only reason to go through all this nonsense is to get to the stage where you can appeal it to a real court, and if necessary up to the Supreme Court". Steyn further criticized the Human Rights Commissions and Canadian politicians, stating that
Julian Porter, the lawyer for Rogers Publishing (which owns Maclean's) stated that,
Other criticism The complaints prompted criticism of the CIC from various writers as well as a federal cabinet minister, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, who said "attacking opinions expressed by a columnist in a major magazine is a pretty bold attack on the basic Canadian value of freedom of the press and freedom of expression."Ditchburn, Jennifer, "Tory minister slams Islamic Congress complaint against journalist", Canadian Press, December 12, 2007
Brian Hutchinson, of the National Post, criticized the BC Human Rights Tribunal for agreeing to hear testimony from Khurrum Awan, one of the student lawyers who helped with the human rights complaint in Ontario on how Muslims in British Columbia were affected by the article. Maclean's argued that because Awan is not a resident of British Columbia, he should not be allowed to give testimony about the harm the article allegedly caused to Muslims in BC. However, Heather MacNaughton, the Chairwoman of the Tribunal, allowed his testimony, justifying the decision by stating that "strict rules of evidence do not apply" in cases before the Tribunal.