Just yesterday, there was news circulating that Harper's government had closed down three branch HRC offices: one in Toronto, one in Vancouver and another in Halifax. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) declared that these closures:
will have a particular impact on racialized people and recent immigrants. In many cases, the closures will make it much more difficult to challenge both systemic abuses and individual instances of discrimination.Well, it turns out that it wasn't Harper's government that ordered these closures, but the by HRC itself. Complaints are apparently dealt with more efficiently via telephone or email, and these three outreach branches were closed for budgetary reasons.
What is actually happening is not cuts, but expansions including an increased budget for the HRCs:
C[Canadinan]HRC’s budget is expected to grow from $21.5 million in the current fiscal year to just under $23 million in 2011-2012 fiscal year. The number of employees is set to rise as well from 197 full-time equivalencies to 203.I've had whole posts explaining that the problem behind the HRCs is bigger than their pseudo-court systems (link to my Issues: Human Rights Commissions section on the side panel). I've discussed, analyzed, and demonstrated that the majority of the HRC complaints, notwithstanding the very few high profile anti-Christian homosexual ones, come from minorities, of which a large part are immigrants.
Recent demographic projections for Canada show that these “racialized” people, which includes Muslims, will continue to increase dramatically over the next twenty years. These are the kinds of people the HRCs cater for. Cases similar to Ezra Levant's and Mark Steyn's, who were brought before the "courts" by Muslim immigrants, will only grow, perhaps less dramatically at first, but in many other guises.
It is one thing to dismantle the HRCs. But, without correcting the roots of these problems which involves reducing the high immigration rates of “racialized” peoples, including Muslims, the HRCs will continue to exist and function in some manner. Attempting to dismantle them will only cause these politicized groups, with strong lobbies and high voting power, to rise up in furor.
Harper knows this, and that is why his government is keeping quiet.
