Kel Fritzi has kindly invited me to appear on her show, ‘Infidels Are Watching’, part of the Radio Jihad Network, from 6 to 8 pm Eastern Time.
Here is tonight’s show write-up.
This is a call-in show – so, feel free to call in at (347) 857-1380.
If you cannot listen live, the shows are archived here – just scroll down to the right one!
Here is a taste of Kel, from her recent appearance at an EDL rally in the UK:
A political protest against ISIS was held in Toronto, by PEGIDA CANADA in conjunction with RISE CANADA.
A group of counter-protesters turned from loud to threatening violence – so, the police shut the event down.
Yes – those threatening violence were shut down, much to the cheers of the crowd threatening violence against peaceful and orderly demonstrators, some even calling for police to shoot the protesters.
It is important to note that the PEGIDA CANADA and RISE CANADA were peaceful and lawfully exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech.
The police gave in to the loud and potentially violent crowd and prevented the lawful group from exercising their constitutional rights,
The role of the police is to ensure that all citizens can – are truly able to – exercise their constitutionally guaranteed fights and freedoms. In this particular case, the only lawful conduct for the police would have been to hold back the loud crowd that was threatening violence and, should anyone escalate to actual violence, to arrest that lawbreaker.
Instead, the police chose to side with violent thugs and penalize the lawful, peaceful citizens for something a different group had done and threatened to do.
This is not right – this is so very not right!
For the video, please follow the link below (I’ve had difficulty embedding from LiveLeak)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=69e_1442693905
Yet, it is increasingly the new normal…
Video courtesy of Victor Laszlo.
Yeay!
The photos, courtesy of Victor Laszlo, are here!!!
Me and my Free Speech Wall
The red pouch in the table contains writing tools. The red bits on The Wall are the text of Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which I was to ‘display prominently’ so as not to ‘entrap’ people into accidentally getting arrested for thinking they can write anything they want on a Free Speech Wall.
This is how prominently my Free Speech Wall was located on the Parliament Hill
Hey, at least you can see the Canadian flag behind me – that has to count for something, right?
The RCMP vehicle in the right part of the picture is my protection team.
Parliament Hill of Canada, 13th of September, 2015
Another RCMP officer ensuring peace on The Hill.
The one guy who dared to visit my display – but not to write on it…
He had a permit of his own to demonstrate – but he could go anywhere, so he came to check me out. My display was deemed too provocative and dangerous to bystanders (as well as my RCMP guards), so I had been limited to this corner.
The rope people would have to ‘hop over’ to get to see my Free Speech Wall – along with the RCMP dutifully watching that nobody breaks any rules or laws
Apparently, slightly lowering the rope between these two supports (not even ones closest to my display) was ‘sufficient’ to ensure ‘public access’ to my Free Speech Wall. In the background, you can see RCMP Constable watching the dip in the rope very, very closely indeed: to provide appropriate security.
All these photos are courtesy of Victor Laszlo.
For full write-up of the day, please see my report here.
UPDATE: Courtesy of Victor Laszlo, photos from today can be seen here.
Today is the day!
Sunday, September 13th!
Today, I have a permit to hold my Free Speech Wall on Parliament Hill, from 1 to 3 pm!
With 30 minutes ahead to set up and 30 minutes after for teardown.
EXCITING!!!
I wish I could report that it was a beautiful, warm and sunny autumn day. But, I woke up to cold sleet, the gray rain drumming loudly on my window… Ah, well – still excited!!!
* * *
All the ‘political demonstrations, rallies and other events’ are supposed to take place on the ‘middle walkway’.
If you are unfamiliar with Canada’s Parliament Hill, here is a picture:
As you can see, the front of The Hill is sort of shaped like a wide horseshoe, with a central walkway bisecting the lawn into Eastern and Western halves. Since this is a hill, and the lawn is flat, the central walkway leads from the Centennial Flame Fountain towards the Peace Tower with a flight of steps at the top, to bring the walkway up to the level of the roadway in front of the Parliament Buildings. The retaining wall between this roadway and the level of the lawn is fronted by decorative bushes and flowers. Yes, red and white flowers: this is Canada!
So, most political thingies are supposed to be located on the central walkway itself, which is wide enough for a set of tents and tables to be along one edge without impeding the pedestrian traffic. I’ve been to The Hill many times when this was happening – never did this cause traffic problems.
Nothing is supposed to be located on the stairs themselves, unless there is a special permission for that: which only makes sense. I have been at events where the stairs are used in place of a dais and it works very well – just that the RCMP has to be on hand to ensure there are no traffic jams.
OK.
My event, however, was considered by the RCMP to be ‘highly provocative’ and might expose ‘innocent people’ to being shot if I were to locate my Free Speech Wall in this high traffic area. Wanting to be as cooperative as possible, I readily agreed to set up my Free Speech Wall on the Eastern Lawn, in the North-Eastern-most corner, right in front of the decorative bushes and flowers – and about 5-10 meters in from the Eastern path up The Hill, with my ‘Wall’ facing South. This was where I had agreed to have been set up for the International Draw Muhammed Day event, so…
OK.
I arrived at the Eastern Gate to The Hill at 12:30 on the dot. Luckily, the downpour had given way to a chilly drizzle alternating with light showers, so that was good. Very good!
RCMP Constable Gregory Welsh was already there, waiting for me. With some helpers, I brought my stuff (OK, they brought most of it) to my spot. To get there, Constable Greg had to untie a rope which acted as a barrier, preventing people from going from the walkway onto the lawn and then he closed it behind us – I guessed to protect us from the throngs of people while we were setting up.
Constable Greg also informed me there was going to be ‘some religious thing’ going on on the stairs, which turned out to be a group of Messianic Jews singing and praying and blowing some weird twisty horn thingies – so, perfect atmosphere for celebrating freedoms of all kinds! Very exciting!!!
First, the folding table – to keep everything out of the puddles in the grass.
I lay my three permitted cardboard panels, protected in plastic, onto the table and set up my one permitted lawnchair to keep the rest of my props from being drowned, and we set about putting up the gazebo-tent thingy which S/Sgt Roussel generously, out of the goodness of his heart, permitted to be used (but only in the case of rain). This was the tricky bit – the sand from its last use was making extending the legs a little tricky. But, with help from two of my tall voluntolds, we got it done!
Popping the tent over the table and wiping it dry, I went about connecting up my three panels and putting up the last few pages that overlapped the panel-breaks.
Explanation is needed, I think…
S/Sgt Roussel had, during our meeting, asked if I would prevent people from writing anything on my Free Speech Wall that might contravene Sections 318 and 319 of Canada’s Criminal Code – the Hate Speech provision. I pointed out that this would, kind of, defeat the purpose of actually having a Free Speech Wall!
Knowing from an earlier interview that I had been a political refugee, having been born in Czechoslovakia, he demanded: “So, if somebody wanted to write: ‘rape all Czechoslovakian women’, you would not stop them?”
My response, understandably, was: “Of course I would not stop them!”
We went back and forth like that for a while – I’m sure most free speech loving people have had a version or two of this conversation with bannies (people who like to ban things) and their bureaucratic minions.
When they realized I would not stop people from exercising their Constitutional right to Free Speech on my Free Speech Wall, Constable Greg had given me a copy of Sections 318 and 319 of Canada’s Criminal Code, which he had prepared earlier. I had to promise to S/Sgt Roussel that, in order for me not to entrap people into accidentally getting arrested by writing something forbidden, I would prominently display these laws on my Wall.
So that everybody would have fair warning.
Because if there were a crime in progress, they would have to pull the plug on the event, confiscate my wall and start arresting people. When I pointed out that without being arrested, citizens could not challenge bad laws in court, S/Sgt Roussel lost control of his facial expression for a while and, while he muttered: “You’ll never get any laws changed” under his breath, his face showed amused contempt.
It seemed to me that, at this very moment, S/Sgt Roussel decided to make sure things went so smoothly that no arrest would be made.
Well, I myself would not want anybody to get arrested through ignorance of the law either – and on my account to boot!
So, of course, I complied!
I took S/Sgt Roussel’s exact quote – and had him inspect it and confirm I got it right – and then, under the heading of this quote (one side in English, the other en Francais – this is Canada, non?) I posted the exact wording of the Crimnal Code of Canada’s sections 318 and 319. It was some of these pages that overlapped the ‘seams’ of my 3 permitted cardboard panels – and which I had to attach on site.
Printed on red paper – so people could see it is a warning from a proverbial mile away!
When the clock on the Peace Tower chimed 1 pm, I had everything set up. The three cardboard panels, connected as they were, turned out to be a bit of a sail (it was windy) so I strengthened the cardboard supports built into them by sticky taping them to the table. I set out a brand new set of markers in front, my chair beside the table – and all was set to go!
Constable Greg came to check it all out and and confirmed everything was done exactly as the RCMP had told me to do it.
I said good, we were ready, and could he please now remove the rope that separates the lawn from the walkway: just between two of the nearest supports, so there would be a gateway for people to get to me.
To my great surprise, Constable Greg refused. He would not look me in the eye when he told me that the rope was low enough for people to just hop across it!!!
If the RCMP was worried I would be swamped with people had they made it clear that people were not forbidden from walking on the wet grass, they succeeded 100%!!!
A lot if people looked at my display, then at the rope, then at the many RCMP officers watching me – and them – and decided to walk on. Only the one guy with a Jesus sign, whom I had seen during my interview with the RCMP on The Hill earlier, had the guts to come over – out of curiosity…..but that was it. Even he chose not to write anything on The Wall – under the watchful eye of the RCMP.
Given the implications of Bill C-51, I can’t really blame him!
Oh, yes. One brave media person (and no, Rebel Media, though well aware of this event, chose not to cover it) interviewed me – I hope to have pics and or video soon.
In the meantime, here is my potato quality flip-phone picture of the ‘Gate’ to my Free Speech Wall – the rope people could ‘just hop across’:
And, here is a blurry picture of my Free Speech Wall itself: the red bits are the lists (English and French) of what is forbidden and the White area is the Free Speech Area itself. And, yes, Constable Greg had looked it over and agreed that this is exactly what the RCMP had asked me to do.
It was so peaceful, I hope to do this again next spring!
Edit: I forgot to say what S/Sgt Roussel’s exact quote was:
Knowing that this warning implies the use of maximum military force if ‘the line in the sand ‘ is crossed, and knowing S/Sgt Roussel commands a lot of people armed to the teeth, I had to take his warning very seriously indeed…
This Sunday, the 13th of September, I will be holding a Free Speech Wall event on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill between 1 and 3 pm.
Everyone is welcome!!!
However, a number of people have contacted me, saying they cannot make it for logistical reasons.
A number of people have also contacted me, saying they will not come because the security on The Hill is handled by the RCMP, and with Bill C-51 looming ‘out there’, they fear they might come up on the RCMP’s ‘radar’ and be in danger because of that legislation…
To top this off, my very even-keeled, engineer husband keeps stressing to me that he hopes I make it through this even without getting myself killed….
Is this really the society we want to leave to our children?!?!?
If you will be unable – or unwilling – to attend the event on Sunday due to fears for your safety, please, leave your message in the comments, I will print it out, and post it on the wall anonymously on your behalf.
Yes!
WE ARE ON!!!
I have received the permission from the powers that be to hold my Free Speech Wall event on the Parliament Hill.
So, please, mark your calendars, and help spread the word!!!
OK, there are a few little things to ‘iron out’, but I am sure it will be a success!
Please, bring all your friends and let’s exercise our free speech, as best as we can!!!
Sorry to have been so quiet over the last couple of days.
My ‘little baby’ was moving from his co-op intern job back to school, about 10 hours’ or so drive apart – and I just happened to be the driver.
So, over the last 3 days or so, I have been, driving, moving, driving, moving and…driving.
It seems that this has been a very eventful period – please, visit http://vladtepesblog.com/ and BCF and Religion of Peace for the details.
When I got home early this morning, I went into a deep, well-earned sleep!
While I was asleep, this afternoon, I received an email from the government department in charge of putting on the events in Parliament Hill, giving me the permit yo hold a “Free Speech Wall’ event on September 13th, 2015 from 1-3pm.
Now, I did start the proceedings to get this event approved back in June. I was asked to wait 3 months. Since, the last time, the ‘approval process’ – 10 days or less according to the Gov of Canada website – was so short, I started the negotiations in June 2015, and, as per request, waited till after the whirlwind of ‘Canada Day’ (plus the time the bureaucrat I truly and honestly believe was doing everything possible in his power to make this happen ‘was back in town’ to ‘rush this through personally’), I submitted my official request for permit in early/mid July.
Plenty of time -right?!?!?!
During all of this, I was very clear that I would need two to three weeks between the permission is granted till the time of the event (I selected the 13th of September – the first Sunday following Labour day and thus satisfying the ‘3 month period’ that was requested of me by ‘the powers that be’) to be able to publicize it properly and get proper citizen involvement in this event.
I had requested permission for a ‘Free Speech Wall’. Along the models that have been springing up on all the College and University campuses in North America, as per theFIRE.org.
And, while I was sleeping, recovering from that whole cross-country moving event of my ‘baby’, I had, indeed, been granted the permission to hold this event.
11 days before the event date.
7 business days prior to the event date. (To get printing and all publicity done – since investing the money prior to any permit being granted seemed rather questionable, at best. Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me!!!)
Which, if I may be perfectly honest, is not exactly ‘within 10 business days’, or anywhere close, of my application….nor does it leave me enough time to properly publicize this event!!!
I cannot help the feeling that this, indeed, is what the ‘powers that be’ had aimed for: despite the best efforts of well-meaning bureaucrats, the permission came at such late a date that, regardless of my efforts, it will prove the event to be a failure since nobody will show up. Because to pull a major event like this, with just 11 days notice, is just a teeny bit difficult.
Less than 2-3 weeks will not give enough time for either ‘my Toronto, nor ‘my Montreal’ people enough time to organize buses to bring people to the event. This eliminates 70 to 80% of the people who were planning to come to my event!
Plus, the RCMP folks (who really, really did not want to be recorded in what they said) told me I was not permitted to promote this as the follow-up or alternative to the Draw Muhammed event – I had to stay within the ‘free speech’ framework when publicizing it or they would, and I quote, ‘pull the plug’.
Also, they handed me the Canadian ‘hate speech’ laws, printed out, and said that if anyone contravened them (or the ‘Terms of use’ of Parliament Hill, which include ‘organized sports’, citing ‘soccer’ as a prime example of what was absolutely and totally forbidden, while a soccer game was taking place on the Western half of the Front Lawn while we held our meeting on the Eastern half of The Lawn), they would, and I quote, ‘pull the plug’ on the event and arrest any/all offenders and/or me.
At this point, I explained to them (again) about my repeatedly injured shoulders and requested they cuff my hands in front, not behind me, since I have insufficient shoulder mobility for that and I would not wish it to be misunderstood as an attempt to resist arrest…
What do you say, my dear readers: will you come to participate?
Or, should I call the RCMP on their attempt to sabotage this event by not giving me enough notice to do proper publicity?
Please, DO let me know – I will count on your numbers should you say you will come!!!
“F” stands for “Free Dominion”.
That is what Dr. Michael Geist wrote in his ‘internet freedom countdown’.
“F” could just as easily could have stood for “Fournier” – as in Connie and Mark Fournier, who have done more for the freedom of speech and freedom on the Internet than any other Canadians. And this time, I am not using hyperbole!
20 years to the day and in the very building I had signed my marriage license, I came to observe and blog about a court case involving Free Dominion: Connie and Mark Fournier. It was a civil case involving anonymity on the internet and both the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Dr. Geist’s Electronic Frontier Foundation were intervenors in the case. Having heard of the latter two and considering any court case they both thought important enough to intervene in to definitely have a significant impact on my own internet and speech freedoms, I came to spectate. (OK – I have to admit – I am a Geist ‘acolyte’.)
While following this particular case and many, many more, I came to deeply admire Connie and Mark. Over the years, they have made significant impact on the evolution of our speech and internet rights, always from a deeply principled perspective.
Now, before you get the idea that I agree with Connie and Mark’s political views, let me stop you right there. They are social conservatives who come from a Christian perspective. I am a libertarian, just this side of turning into an-cap. And a militant ignostic as well as a registered Kopimist.
Despite the greatly different views we hold on a myriad of topics, I came to like and deeply respect the Fourniers. Even when we discussed topics we disagreed on, they were respectful and principled and debating things with them has always been a pleasure.
Full disclosure: the one principle both the Fourniers and I completely and totally agree on – and it is perhaps the most important principle of them all – is the importance of freedom of speech.
I came to understanding the true and essential need for freedom of speech as the cornerstone of our civilization and the internet as the vehicle through which it is anonymously and effectively delivered because I was not only born on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, I was also born the daughter of a political dissident. Perhaps because of this, I learned early on that without the freedom to criticize and ridicule political and religious ideologies and figures, you lose the means of defending all your other rights and freedoms. And while I don’t know the route that brought Connie and Mark to the same conclusions, it is a demonstrated fact that they have not only lived by that principle, they have sacrificed all to preserve freedom of speech in Canada (and, by extension, all Magna Carta countries) and have put their financial and physical security – their very well being on the line to protect anonymous speech (in their case, on the internet), which is so very crucial in preventing the abrogation of free speech in public spaces.
OK – I have now sketched in the background so that you, my dear reader, are aware of what I know, think and whatever prejudices I may have regarding my review of Connie Fournier’s new book: ‘Betrayed! Stephen Harper’s War on Principled Conservatism’.
One more thing before I start: here is a most excellent review of the book by Jay Currie (and, no, I did not read his review before I had made my own mind up). The comments are excellent!
The Review:
‘Betrayed! Stephen Harper’s War on Principled Conservatism’ by Connie Fournier is a truly scary book.
Connie Fournier is both intelligent and eloquent and has the skill to line the little pearls up, one by one, till they form a brilliant necklace – or an effective noose…
Yes, I saw a part of the journey that Connie so accurately describes in her book – but I truly only saw a small part. Yet, step by step, event by event, convoluted happening by convoluted happening, she lights the path and puts forward some very convincing evidence that points not just to the corruption of our ‘progressive’ leaning bureaucracy but also demonstrated how the Harper ‘iron fist’ is affecting things behind the scenes (whether through direct action or through carefully selective inaction). Limited by the legal rulings still muzzling her, she succeeds in getting the important points across in a logical, accurate and believable manner.
This book has bought into focus the consistency with which the Harper government has sought to control, regulate and stifle internet communication. The book stops before the Trans Pacific Trade Treaty – again, a Harper government ‘baby’, the leaks about which prove the veracity of everything else written in the book.
Yes, I would recommend it as a read – even though I disagree with Connie’s conclusion that the Green Party would be the natural place to cast a protest vote for. No – I think the Pirate Party of Canada is a much better candidate, as their abid opposition to Bill C-51 is coupled with opposition to copyright consumer right abuses that the TPTT imposes as a supra-national law. If there is no Pirate Party candidate in your riding, please, do consider running for them. If my health were better, I most certainly would do my best to try to run for them!
But, again, I digress…
This is an important book to read for everyone who understands the crucial role freedom of speech plays and who would like help navigating the legal jungle of bills and attempts to deny it to us, the citizens – especially as it relates to the electronic medium.
Whether neo-Con or not, this book will open your eyes to the systematic process that is already in place to persecute political foes of the party in power and is written in such an accessible way that even non-techies will understand the implications of the proposed muzzling legislation coming from Harper’s ‘Conservative’ government.
Everyone of my relatives and friends will be getting a copy from me!
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