Federal Court to appeal dismissal of complaint against former Sask. MP

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/04/06/pankiw-appeal.html

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Commission+appealing+Pankiw+pamphlet+ruling/1470535/story.html

SASKATOON — The Canadian Human Rights Commission is appealing a ruling that dismissed a racism complaint against a former Saskatchewan MP.

The controversy involves pamphlets mailed by Jim Pankiw to his constituents in the Saskatoon area that contained slogans such as "Stop Indian Crime."

Last month a commission tribunal dismissed the complaint, saying federal human rights law doesn't cover such pamphlets called householders that are routinely sent by MPs to their constituents.

Ailsa Watkinson, one of several people who filed the original complaint, said she is very pleased the commission is appealing the decision to Federal Court.

"This is a very important case when it comes to speech and how the written word can be so harmful - in this case aboriginal people," Watkinson said Monday.

"The way that those messages were sent out were without a doubt in my mind harmful to any kind of co-operation within a community."

The pamphlets sent by Pankiw in 2002 and 2003 claimed aboriginals were behind higher crime rates, blackmail and terrorism.

One pamphlet, titled "Stop Indian Crime," showed a photograph of the Oka protest in Quebec in 1990. The caption under the photo described an aboriginal protester as a terrorist.

It's not clear when the Federal Court will conduct the judicial review.

The three-person tribunal ruled last month that the householder mail-outs are not subject to the Canadian Human Rights Act because they do not provide a service to the public but rather to MPs by allowing them to share their political views with constituents.

Daniel Poulin, a lawyer for the commission, said because the pamphlets aren't subject to the act, the panel was unable to consider whether Pankiw's statements were objectionable.

Pankiw said he's disappointed the commission is appealing the ruling.

He said the ongoing case is costing him time, energy and money for speaking his mind.

"I firmly stand by my assertion that there should not be special race-based privileges in our country," he said in an interview Monday.

"No tax-free status, no special hunting and fishing privileges, no lenient criminal sentences, no free education. Everything should be equal. That is the definition of egalitarianism."

Pankiw served two terms as a Reform and Canadian Alliance MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt before he left to sit as an Independent until his defeat in the 2004 federal election.

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