| Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News,
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Views : 1500  |
 OTTAWA - Calgary Bishop Fred Henry would like to see Imam Syed Soharwardy and former publisher Ezra Levant settle their feud so they can work together to stop the abuses of human rights commissions.
“Whether or not I could be a referee in any kind of context, I have thought about that in the past and I’m still open to that,” Henry said.
“But right now I think things are a little bit too inflamed and they’re too emotive for any kind of intervention.”
Henry is even willing to offer his office for the sit down meeting that Soharwardy publicly asked for in a Calgary Herald Op Ed piece Feb. 13, where he announced he was dropping his human rights complaint against Levant.
“They are both good men,” Henry said. “I think they recognize there are some problems with the human rights commissions.”
Henry said he hopes they can find reconciliation.
Two years ago Soharwardy complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission because Levant republished the Danish Mohammed cartoons in the now defunct Western Standard magazine. The publication of the cartoons caused riots throughout the world by Muslims offended by the cartoons.
Levant, who is also a defamation lawyer, fought back. When summoned to appear before the human rights commission Jan. 12, he had his “interrogation” videotaped and posted segments on YouTube. Combined, they have received nearly half a million views. Columnists, editorials in two national newspapers, radio talk show hosts and television show hosts on both sides of the border, have sided with the media-savvy Levant’s defense of freedom of speech and of the press.
Now that the imam has dropped his complaint, Levant has said he intends to sue to recover his legal fees.
“Can someone abuse a government process like he has, for two years, and then simply walk away with impunity?” Levant wrote on his web site www.ezralevant.com. “I’ve spent the better part of $100,000 defending against this thug — but because he’s losing face, he thinks he can pretend he never did what he did.”
Henry understands how Levant feels. In 2005, he faced two separate complaints for a pastoral letter defending traditional marriage. They reached the conciliation stage, but were then dropped.
Henry said one of the flaws of the current human rights process is that “you must defend yourself and that usually means hiring a lawyer.” If the complainant drops the case, you could be left feeling “you’re holding the bag, having spent x number of dollars defending yourself.”
Henry faced thousands of dollars in legal fees. Like Levant, he contemplated suing to recover the costs, but decided against it because it would have been a public relations disaster.
“I had to eat the costs.”
He doesn’t know of any other instances where a defendant has tried to recoup costs.
Soharwardy said discussions with other Muslim leaders, and some Christian and Jewish friends persuaded him “the filing I made is outside of what I now believe a human rights commission’s mandate should be.”
Henry did not play a direct role in Soharwardy’s decision. But he believes that the imam’s participation on an interfaith council played a big role in changing his mind. That council had frequently discussed the dangers of human rights commissions to members of faith communities who wish to speak publicly about their religious doctrines on issues like same-sex marriage.
The imam may also have been influenced by the fact that he himself now faces human rights complaints made by some women who attend his mosque.
Henry was surprised to hear Soharwardy, who he called a friend, was being accused of discriminating against women. “He’s probably one of the most liberal imams in Canada.”
“The Commission has got no business sitting on this sort of thing,” he said, describing it as an internal matter inside the mosque. He said the state should only get involved in criminal matters.
“The unfortunate thing is that (human rights commissions) have gotten a little puffed up with experience and think they can adjudicate on most any area they want and nobody seems prepared to challenge them,” he said. “It’s very hard to stand up to any organization that ostensibly stands for human rights.”
Henry also expressed concerns for the imam’s safety from more extreme members of the Muslim community now that he’s withdrawn his complaint.
“I don’t think the decision was reached easily,” Henry said. “He was weighing all kinds of consequences to his actions. He has a price to pay no matter how it plays itself out.”
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