Michael Cooper’s words removed from justice committee’s transcript and audio record

The edited transcript of Michael Cooper's comments during a meeting of the parliamentary justice and human rights committee.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. I know, of course, that the past is falsified, but it would never be possible for me to prove it, even when I did the falsification myself. After the thing is done, no evidence ever remains. The only evidence is inside my own mind, and I don’t know with any certainty that any other human being shares my memories. Just in that one instance, in my whole life, I did possess actual concrete evidence after the event—years after it.

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

If there was ever a time when silence was deafening, it’s now. If you listen to the audio recording of a justice committee meeting last week and it stops abruptly, there isn’t a problem with your internet connection. That silence is the product of a successful effort by Liberal politicians to literally censor the words of a colleague.

The censored words are those of Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who was ejected from the justice committee by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer. Cooper read an excerpt from the Christchurch killer’s manifesto to challenge a committee witness’ assertion that “conservative commentators” inspire mass violence.

But the attacks on Cooper, and the truth he spoke, went beyond political. As I wrote about last week, members of the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights voted unanimously (with the Conservative members abstaining) to remove Cooper’s comments from the official record.

Not only were they removed from the transcript, pictured above. Even the raw audio feed of the testimony was retroactively edited, with silence replacing the offending words.

First, the stream goes dead when Cooper mentions Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch killer, by name. It goes dead again as Cooper reads the section of the manifesto disproving the slanderous assertion made by witness Faisal Khan Suri.

I was in the committee room when the motion to censor and censure Cooper was passed, but it was still chilling to hear–or not hear, rather–the new “record” of that May 28 meeting.

You can listen to the updated version of history for yourself here, though I’ve embedded the relevant excerpt below.

As noted in the above Orwell quote, in the absence of an official record we’re left only with memories, fallible and unprovable as they are. Even when reporting on Cooper’s comments, no Canadian media outlet included them in full. At this point, no publicly accessible transcript of the exchange exists, with the exception of my own, below.

I manually transcribed this after the motion to censor Cooper was passed. Regretfully I didn’t have the forethought to download the audio myself.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, Mr. Suri, I take great umbrage with your defamatory comments to try to link conservatism with violent and extremist attacks. They have no foundation. They are defamatory. And they diminish your credibility as a witness.

Let me, Mr. Chair, read into the record the statement of Brenton Tarrant, who is responsible for the Christchurch massacre. He left a 74-page manifesto in which he stated “conservatism is corporatism in disguise. I want no part of it,” and, “The nation with the closest political and social values to my own is the People’s Republic of China.”

I certainly wouldn’t attempt to link Bernie Sanders to the individual who shot up Republican members of Congress and nearly fatally killed Congressman (Steve) Scalise. So you should be ashamed.

Michael Cooper, Conservative Member of Parliament, St. Albert–Edmonton, at a meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, May 28, 2019.

Stripe suspends Tommy Robinson’s campaign fundraising account – one week before election

Update: Stripe has temporarily reinstated Tommy Robinson’s account, pending a two-week review.

The full letter from Tommy Robinson’s lawyer to Stripe is at the bottom of this post.

When Tommy Robinson left the Old Bailey on Tuesday, he wanted to focus on his campaign for the European Parliament. A decision two days later from a Silicon Valley tech giant may make that more difficult.

A New York law firm representing Robinson says two of the British candidate’s accounts with Stripe – an online payment processing company – were suspended, including one used exclusively by the VoteTommy election campaign.

“Stripe informed Tommy this week that two accounts connected with him…were terminated on the ground that his business violated the Stripe Services Agreement,” a letter from Ronald Coleman to Stripe’s general counsel says. “Tommy’s campaign and fundraising are entirely lawful under both UK and EU law. Tommy has complied with all legal requirements for registering as an official candidate and he will be on the ballet in the EU Parliament election on May 23rd.”

Stripe has issued no public statement about the suspension, though I’ve reached out to the company’s media relations office and will update this when I hear back.

Coleman goes on his letter to note that Stripe has not denied its services to any other candidate in the election, and that the suspension “is seriously hindering Tommy’s ability to participate in the democratic process.”

My longstanding belief is that companies should have the right to do business with whomever they’d like, and should not be compelled otherwise. This is not as cut-and-dried where elections are concerned.

Canadian election law, for example, requires that publishers allow all candidates the opportunity to purchase advertising if it will allow some to do so. A company terminating a relationship with one week until the election disadvantages Robinson’s campaign at what is often the most critical point for fundraising.

Imagine if, say, a candidate’s web host decided in the days before an election that it would take their website offline, and that website was the vehicle through which the campaign would email people about how and where to vote.

I won’t pretend to know the intricacies of European election law, but if Stripe had an issue with being the payment processor of Robinson’s campaign, it has had ample opportunities to make a decision to suspend prior to this point.

Letter from Tommy Robinson&… by on Scribd

It’s illegal to defame Muhammad, European human rights court rules

If you dare to criticize the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Europe, prepare to pay for it. Literally.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled this week that an Austrian woman broke the law in 2009 when she gave two seminars in which she accused Muhammad of being a pedophile, based on his marriage to Aisha.

Scholars say Aisha was likely six or seven years old at the time, though the marriage wasn’t consummated until she was nine or 10.

Despite the historic record, the ECHR decision, which upheld an earlier Austrian criminal court ruling, said the woman’s remarks go “beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate” and “could stir up prejudice and put at risk religious peace.”

As of press time, the ECHR had regretfully not been razed to the ground.

That’s the only solution I can propose for a body that so effortlessly brings back blasphemy law and codifies political correctness.

Understandably, Muslims aren’t keen on their prophet being mocked. I don’t blame them. As a Christian, I don’t like it when an artist tours the world with a crucifix soaked in urine. Freedom requires people of faith sucking it up when others don’t share their reverence.

Incidentally, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, so Muhammad hardly needs the public relations help from European judicial bureaucrats.

The perpetrator was fined €480 for the offence, and also had to pay for the proceedings against her. I can’t imagine that was all that cheap considering the case spanned for nine years.

Almost a decade to determine that free speech isn’t important. The woman tried to argue it was, but the ECHR said its decision “carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected, and served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace in Austria.”

You read that right. Religious feelings. The “feelings” of Muslims are more important than everyone’s fundamental right to criticize religion, or anything really.

The timing of this is interesting for me, having just returned from the United Kingdom where I was covering the case of Tommy Robinson, a vocal critic of Islamism. In an interview with Robinson, which will be published in the coming days, I challenged him on what I see as an uncomfortably broad brush he uses to define and characterize Islam.

The “Muhammad is a pedophile” argument is not a particularly new one from anti-Muslim activists. Muslims don’t dispute the timeline of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, but do defend the union based on historical context and traditions that suggest it wasn’t atypical, disgusting as it is by today’s standards.

Today, it’s difficult to imagine anyone taking issue with you for calling a 50-something married to a seven-year old a pedophile. Hence the absurdity of the state—or in the case of the European Court of Human Rights, a judicial body above any one country—carving out special protection for Muhammad, or any religious figure.

What’s next, a fine for calling Buddha fat?

Part of free speech means not having to be civil, and not having to justify why you say something. And that doesn’t mean speech is always free of consequences, but in this case the court wasn’t even interested in whether there were any.

The ECHR said the woman’s comments “could” spark some sort of prejudice.

Criticizing Muhammad means you’re taking your life into your own hands, as numerous incidents have shown over the last 15 years. From threats against those involved in producing the infamous Danish cartoons to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo’s office, blood has been shed for the right to be uncivil and offensive.

Now, if the terrorists don’t get you, the government will.

Ontario’s free speech policy is a good start, but it doesn’t go far enough

Universities must protect free speech or risk losing their government funding.

That’s the crux of a policy unveiled last week by the new Progressive Conservative government in Ontario, Canada. It’s a much-needed step in the fight against the campus censorship that’s become so rampant across North America.

Every taxpayer-funded post-secondary institution has until the new year to “develop and publicly post its own free speech policy” based on the University of Chicago principles, the government said.

Since being minted in 2014, dozens of American schools have adopted the Chicago principles, which affirm that “debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the University community to be offensive, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed.”

None in Canada has, though not for lack of need.

Last year, the University of British Columbia set out to develop its own statement affirming free speech, but after eight months published one that was anything but.

“We must hold in balance concurrent legal and moral responsibilities regarding freedom of expression while providing a respectful, constructive and inclusive environment for all,” the final version said.

This is vexing because of how often campus censorship thrives under the guise of fostering “inclusivity.” When it comes to open debate, these spaces are often as exclusive as can be, depending on what you believe.

It was only last fall when Lindsay Shepherd, a teaching assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., was reprimanded in a closed-door witch trial for daring to show a clip from a public affairs television show of Jordan Peterson debating gender identity.

Laurier eventually exonerated Shepherd when its president conceded “numerous errors in judgement” took place in the meeting—including the existence of the meeting.

The only consequences for the school’s attempt to shame and bully a student into submission on ideological grounds came about from the public relations crisis the incident created. That only happened because Shepherd covertly recorded the session.

Laurier would be a lot more reticent to trample on academic freedom if its grant money was in jeopardy.

Ontario’s approach demands that schools ensure free speech not only for faculty and students, but also guests on campus.

Critics have called this approach heavy-handed, arguing free speech isn’t all that free when the state is forcing it. If this was at a private college, I’d agree.

However, these schools are owned and funded by the government, so they should be expected to uphold the same freedoms government is obliged to safeguard.

Unfortunately, Ontario courts have disagreed in recent years. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has twice ruled that student unions are private non-profits and should be allowed to set out whatever regulations they want.

The judges neglected to consider the monopolistic power student unions are given by administrators to govern student life. If you want to book a speaker or convene a club, you have to go through a student union.

Last year, the University of Ottawa refused to ratify a pro-life club on campus, claiming its mandate was not compliant with the student union’s pro-choice stance.

It was the same university whose provost sent a letter to Ann Coulter in 2010 to “inform” her that “promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges,” in advance of an upcoming talk, which ended up being cancelled minutes before it was set to begin after protestors mounted to such a point police could not guarantee anyone’s safety.

A fire alarm was pulled, registration tables were flipped, and entrances were blocked.

In 2010, this was outrageous. In 2018, it’s expected. For that reason alone, it’s easy to say universities—and many of their students—have failed when it comes to free speech.

Clubs that don’t meet certain ideological standards are denied ratification. If they become sanctioned clubs, they’re denied space for events. If they get the space, they have to contend with thousands of dollars in “security fees.” If they manage to do all that, one tug of a fire alarm gets the event cancelled anyway.

This is the all-too-common progression on campuses lacking a commitment to free speech.

The new Ontario policy forces administrators to protect free speech, but doesn’t go far enough when dealing with student unions, only requiring schools “consider” yanking financial support from student groups that don’t play ball.

The Canadian Federation of Students said in a statement that the Ontario government is “forcing (universities) to pick a side in what is a deeply important public debate.”

The “debate” CFS chairperson Nour Alideeb is referring to is that of free speech, which shouldn’t be much of a debate at all on a campus.

Her statement underscores why the policy is so important in the first place. It’s lamentable government must step in to protect free speech, but doing so is the right move.

Alex Jones is no martyr, but beware the social media censors

My Loonie Politics column this week takes aim at the concerted effort by the social media giants to purge Alex Jones and Infowars from their platforms this past week — seemingly out of nowhere. I am not a Jones fan, but that doesn’t make me any less skeptical of Facebook’s and Twitter’s motivations.

You need to be a Loonie Politics subscriber to read the full column. I would encourage you to pick up an annual subscription, only $40 if you use the promo code “Lawton.”

Meanwhile, an excerpt:

When companies decide to handpick certain candidates for deletion, they’re setting a standard they will struggle to live up to. Alex Jones’ suspension appears to have been authorized by CEO Jack Dorsey.

In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Dorsey called the suspension a “timeout.”

“Any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and behaviors,” he said.

It’s a rather paternalistic and creepy comment from the head of what was launched as a channel for open communication, as though Twitter endeavours to socially engineer, rather than facilitate, dialogue.

I doubt making Alex Jones sit in the corner on a timeout will change much of his content. I’d have an easier time letting companies make these determinations — and letting their users decide whether to keep supporting them — if governments weren’t injecting themselves into these discussions.