Dear List Member,

Time is running out for me in terms of putting together a document containing letters of support for myself and RadicalPress.com with respect to the current CHRC complaint filed by B’nai Brith Canada.

Out of approximately 150 individuals on this list I have received to date 17 letters in response to my initial appeal. That number was not exactly what I had expected from the group of people who have been receiving regular updates on this issue for at least the past year or more.

Now I realize fully that most of you are very busy with your lives and with your own agendas. We all are in that respect.

But still, I am reminded by an old button that I have which says “Democracy is not a spectator sport”, that to merely read about the plights of others who are striving to keep Canada and the Internet free from censorship and who are fighting tooth and nail on the front lines of these initiatives so that everyone in this country can speak their minds freely without fear of intimidation or legal repercussions, is not enough.

Somewhere along the road to retaining freedom of speech in Canada, every individual’s wheels must, sooner or later, touch down on to the pavement.. In other words intentional contact is crucial to winning these struggles.

I realize too that many people, for various reasons, do not want to risk having their names and or email addresses, attached to controversial subjects like the one I am presently dealing with. For those who would suffer reprisals of one sort or another the least I would expect of them would be a private email stating their reason for not being able to help out in this endeavor.. I can appreciate the fact that this is a tough issue.

But to remain silent or apathetic in the face of what is a very real and direct threat to all Canadians who possess a political consciousness and know the value of this right is, I feel quite strongly, a grave error.

Should this complaint by Harry Abrams and the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada be successful against myself and RadicalPress.com it will, as I’ve tried to point out in previous posts, establish a new and dangerous precedent for anyone in this country who might wish to express a critical opinion on any aspect of either the ideology of Zionism or the political policies of the foreign state of Israel. This, in my estimation, would be a terrible blow to our innate right to open discussion.

So the bottom line is that we had better speak up now while we still have the opportunity and the chance to be effectual in preventing such repressive legislation from coming into being.

Please give this some serious thought and don’t dismiss it as mere rhetoric or scare tactics.

For those of you who may have missed the previous send outs I will include the basic information describing how to submit a form letter (should you have trouble writing your own). That information also contains the mailing address for Nancy Lafontant at the CHR Tribunal. Please remember to cc me a copy of your letter as well.

Also, I will take this opportunity to ask once again for help in terms of donations to maintain myself during this period where I have no time to work and earn a living. That information is also included below. Any help whatsoever will be sincerely appreciated and put to the best use possible.

For Freedom of Speech and Justice for All Canadians,

Arthur Topham
Pub/Ed
The RadicalPress.com
radical@radicalpress.com
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Suggested Form Letter to use in Support of Freedom of Speech Re: BBC v. RadicalPress.com

March 13nd, 2009

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

Due to requests from readers for a Form Letter example to follow in composing a letter to the CHR Tribunal I have put together the following. Please feel free to add additional thoughts you may have. Any further questions can be sent to the Editor Arthur Topham at radical@radicalpress.com .  Please don’t forget to send me a copy of the letter to. Thanks.

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Suggested Subject title: B’nai Brith Canada v. RadicalPress.com/T1360/9008Canada

Your name and contact info:

Nancy Lafontant
Registry Officer
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
Nancy.Lafontant@chrt-tcdp.gc.ca

Date:

Dear Nancy Lafontant,

RE: File Number: T1360/9008

The complaint case by the Canadian Human Rights Commission involving Arthur Topham and his website RadicalPress.com and Harry Abrams and the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada is one in which I take a serious interest.

As a person who believes very strongly in the fundamental right of ALL Canadians to be able to express their opinions and views without fear of legal repercussions I wish to register my dissatisfaction with the fact that special lobby groups in Canada are attempting to use the Canadian Human Rights Act and Sec. 13(1) to stop their fellow Canadians from expressing their opinions and beliefs on matters of importance to Canada.

I strongly feel that a person’s right to speak their mind in an open, civil and truthful manner on political, social and religious issues of the day is crucial to an understanding of how our society and the world at large works and that a person’s viewpoint should not be censored merely because it disagrees with either the status quo or the position of another interest group with differing political views.

Judging from how this Sec. 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act has been used to unfairly penalize free expression in Canada I believe that this legislation should be removed from the CHR Act and that issue of “hate crimes” should be dealt with as in the Criminal Code of Canada where a person thus charged has the right to a fair trial in a court of law with either a Judge or a Judge and Jury.

Thank you,

Your name and address and email

CC to:

RadicalPress.com
radical@radicalpress.com

_______________________________________________________________________

http://www.radicalpress.com/?p=930
DONATIONS TO THE RADICALPRESS

March 13, 2009

Dear Free Speech Supporters,

If you are planning to send a donation then just address the envelope as written below. If you wish to do a direct deposit to the Radical Press bank account please contact me for information regarding the account number.

If you can help then I would ask that you please send what you can - cheque, Money Order (made out to “The Radical Press”) or cash to:

THE RADICAL PRESS
P.O. BOX 4633 BARKERVILLE HWY
QUESNEL, B.C. CANADA
V2J 6T8

Thank you!