The Emerson Avenger Was Apparently Able To Astonish Bernard Landry Much Sooner Than Expected!
As I reported yesterday I unexpectedly encountered former Quebec premier Bernard Landry as he left the building that houses the offices of the Quebec Human Rights Commission. He saw my picket sign slogans stating that the Quebec Human Rights Commission tolerates and/or condones anti-religious intolerance and bigotry and, after I briefly explained to him that the QHRC has a poor track record when it comes to dealing effectively with complaints involving religious discrimination and harassment, he responded by saying, "Ca m'étonnerais." (That would astonish me.) Well, as it turns out, Bernard Landry came out of the same doors again today at around 1:20pm or so as I was protesting in front of the QHRC offices. I saw him through the glass as he was entering the revolving doors and we made eye contact. He obviously recognized me from our encounter of yesterday.
Once M. Landry was clear of the revolving doors and walking towards me I said, "Si tu fais un 'tit investigation de mon cas tu seras étonneré." Translation - "If you do a little investigation of my case you will be astonished." (or surprised) He indicated that he hadn't heard me properly so I reminded him about his "Ca m'étonnerais" statement of yesterday and repeated what I had just said. He then asked me what my specific case was. I responded that it was me against the Unitarian Church of Montreal and that my human rights complaint arose out of the fact that the former minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal (Rev. Ray Drennan) had labeled an inter-religious event that I had organized as a "cult" and that, above and beyond that intolerant and abusive damaging slur, Rev. Drennan had labeled me as "psychotic" because I was claiming a religious experience.
Needless to say I pointed to the prominently displayed picket sign that says CULT IS A FOUR LETTER WORD when explaining my case to M. Landry. I stated that falsely accusing someone of belonging to a cult, or falsely accusing someone of trying to start a cult, was one of the very worst things that someone could say about another person's religious activities. Bernard Landry nodded to indicate his agreement on that point. I drew the analogy that I often draw to underline that point and told M. Landry that accusing someone of being involved in a cult had pretty much the same "dynamique sociale" as accusing someone of being "une sorcière" (a witch aka sorcerer) one or two hundred years ago or a Communiste in nineteen fifties America.
I added one other analogy that I knew that M. Landry would understand very clearly. It was an analogy that I had already considered drawing in the follow-up letter that I was planning to write to him as a result of yesterday's encounter (an encounter that I did not expect to be repeated again today) but had not yet decided to use or not since it was a potentially delicate one for a Quebec separatist politician. Since Bernard Landry was once again standing right in front of me, and was clearly interested in hearing what I had to say about the Quebec Human Rights Commission, I decided to throw caution to the wind and added that falsely accusing someone of being involved in a cult was also analogous to falsely accusing someone of belonging to the FLQ (a Quebec separatist terrorist group) in the 1960's and early 1970's. Not only did Bernard Landry not take the slightest offence at my drawing this particular analogy but he even responded to it with some ironic dry humour by saying, "Ou même un membre du PQ." (Or even a member of the Parti Quebecois." I immediately pointed out that the humourous analogy that he drew wasn't really valid in that the Parti Quebecois was a legitimate democratic political party and clearly was not a dangerous terrorist group like the FLQ was. Needless to say he indicated that I was quite right about that.
I explained to M. Landry that I had first brought my case to the attention of the Quebec Human Rights Commission within a few months after the Unitarian Church of Montreal had arbitrarily rejected my initial grievances against Rev. Ray Drennan. I told him that I never got further than the telephone receptionist who insisted that my complaint did not fall within the mandate of the QHRC. I told him that I approached the Quebec Human Rights Commission again in 1998 after a law student who had done a presentation about human rights had insisted that my case was a good one and that the QHRC should handle it but that I was again blown off by the QHRC's telephone receptionist who insisted that my complaint about Rev. Ray Drennan's and Montreal Unitarians' religious discrimination and harassment did not fall within the mandate of the Quebec Human Rights Commission. I told M. Landry that after I had been permanently expelled from the Unitarian Church of Montreal for protesting against the relgious intolerance and bigotry of Rev. Ray Drennan, and after having been falsely arrested on trumped up criminal charges brought against me by Montreal Unitarians, that I reapproached the Quebec Human Rights Commission yet again and this time refused to take no for an answer. I told him that the agent that I dealt with had told me that he would reject any complaint that I submitted to him but had also told ne that I could appeal his rejection.
It was clear that Bernard Landry was not impressed by the fact that an agent of the Quebec Human Rights Commission had told me that he would reject my complaint before I had even written it up and submitted it to him. I can't remember whether or not I also mentioned that the QHRC agent who handled my case had repeatedly insisted in our meetings that Rev. Ray Drennan's obvious anti-religious intolerance and bigotry, and the punitive expulsions from the Unitarian Church of Montreal, were "not discrimination." I did however tell M. Landry that I submitted my complaint against Rev. Ray Drennan and the Unitarian Church of Montreal, that the QHRC agent had rejected my complaint just as he had said he would, that I had then appealed his decision just as I told him I would. . . and that whoever handled my appeal had decided that my complaint was in fact within the mandate of the Quebec Human Rights Commission and that it did appear to be a case of religious discrimination and harassment. I told M. Landry that after about two years of bureaucratic delay in which a number of letters were exchanged the Quebec Human Rights Commission simply closed my case and refused to bring it before a human rights tribunal without providing any explanation whatsoever for their dropping of the case and their refusal to proceed with my case.
Throughout our discussion which lasted several minutes Bernard Landry was clearly interested in what I had to say, repeatedly indicated that he agreed with the points that I made about the 'C' word and indeed the 'P' word, including concurring with my FLQ analogy, and did indeed seem to be surprised, if not astonished, that the Quebec Human Rights Commission had failed and had effectively repeatedly refused to hold Rev. Ray Drennan and the Unitarian Church of Montreal accountable for their very obvious religious discrimination and harassment. As he once again went on his way Bernard Landry wished me luck by saying, "Bonne chance." I am quite sure that he was sincere in wishing me well. Of course, as far as I am concerned luck should not be part of the equation. Truth and some willingness on the part of the Quebec Human Rights Commission to responsibly carry out their mandate to deal with my own and other cases of religious discrimination and harassment is all I should really need.
Once M. Landry was clear of the revolving doors and walking towards me I said, "Si tu fais un 'tit investigation de mon cas tu seras étonneré." Translation - "If you do a little investigation of my case you will be astonished." (or surprised) He indicated that he hadn't heard me properly so I reminded him about his "Ca m'étonnerais" statement of yesterday and repeated what I had just said. He then asked me what my specific case was. I responded that it was me against the Unitarian Church of Montreal and that my human rights complaint arose out of the fact that the former minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal (Rev. Ray Drennan) had labeled an inter-religious event that I had organized as a "cult" and that, above and beyond that intolerant and abusive damaging slur, Rev. Drennan had labeled me as "psychotic" because I was claiming a religious experience.
Needless to say I pointed to the prominently displayed picket sign that says CULT IS A FOUR LETTER WORD when explaining my case to M. Landry. I stated that falsely accusing someone of belonging to a cult, or falsely accusing someone of trying to start a cult, was one of the very worst things that someone could say about another person's religious activities. Bernard Landry nodded to indicate his agreement on that point. I drew the analogy that I often draw to underline that point and told M. Landry that accusing someone of being involved in a cult had pretty much the same "dynamique sociale" as accusing someone of being "une sorcière" (a witch aka sorcerer) one or two hundred years ago or a Communiste in nineteen fifties America.
I added one other analogy that I knew that M. Landry would understand very clearly. It was an analogy that I had already considered drawing in the follow-up letter that I was planning to write to him as a result of yesterday's encounter (an encounter that I did not expect to be repeated again today) but had not yet decided to use or not since it was a potentially delicate one for a Quebec separatist politician. Since Bernard Landry was once again standing right in front of me, and was clearly interested in hearing what I had to say about the Quebec Human Rights Commission, I decided to throw caution to the wind and added that falsely accusing someone of being involved in a cult was also analogous to falsely accusing someone of belonging to the FLQ (a Quebec separatist terrorist group) in the 1960's and early 1970's. Not only did Bernard Landry not take the slightest offence at my drawing this particular analogy but he even responded to it with some ironic dry humour by saying, "Ou même un membre du PQ." (Or even a member of the Parti Quebecois." I immediately pointed out that the humourous analogy that he drew wasn't really valid in that the Parti Quebecois was a legitimate democratic political party and clearly was not a dangerous terrorist group like the FLQ was. Needless to say he indicated that I was quite right about that.
I explained to M. Landry that I had first brought my case to the attention of the Quebec Human Rights Commission within a few months after the Unitarian Church of Montreal had arbitrarily rejected my initial grievances against Rev. Ray Drennan. I told him that I never got further than the telephone receptionist who insisted that my complaint did not fall within the mandate of the QHRC. I told him that I approached the Quebec Human Rights Commission again in 1998 after a law student who had done a presentation about human rights had insisted that my case was a good one and that the QHRC should handle it but that I was again blown off by the QHRC's telephone receptionist who insisted that my complaint about Rev. Ray Drennan's and Montreal Unitarians' religious discrimination and harassment did not fall within the mandate of the Quebec Human Rights Commission. I told M. Landry that after I had been permanently expelled from the Unitarian Church of Montreal for protesting against the relgious intolerance and bigotry of Rev. Ray Drennan, and after having been falsely arrested on trumped up criminal charges brought against me by Montreal Unitarians, that I reapproached the Quebec Human Rights Commission yet again and this time refused to take no for an answer. I told him that the agent that I dealt with had told me that he would reject any complaint that I submitted to him but had also told ne that I could appeal his rejection.
It was clear that Bernard Landry was not impressed by the fact that an agent of the Quebec Human Rights Commission had told me that he would reject my complaint before I had even written it up and submitted it to him. I can't remember whether or not I also mentioned that the QHRC agent who handled my case had repeatedly insisted in our meetings that Rev. Ray Drennan's obvious anti-religious intolerance and bigotry, and the punitive expulsions from the Unitarian Church of Montreal, were "not discrimination." I did however tell M. Landry that I submitted my complaint against Rev. Ray Drennan and the Unitarian Church of Montreal, that the QHRC agent had rejected my complaint just as he had said he would, that I had then appealed his decision just as I told him I would. . . and that whoever handled my appeal had decided that my complaint was in fact within the mandate of the Quebec Human Rights Commission and that it did appear to be a case of religious discrimination and harassment. I told M. Landry that after about two years of bureaucratic delay in which a number of letters were exchanged the Quebec Human Rights Commission simply closed my case and refused to bring it before a human rights tribunal without providing any explanation whatsoever for their dropping of the case and their refusal to proceed with my case.
Throughout our discussion which lasted several minutes Bernard Landry was clearly interested in what I had to say, repeatedly indicated that he agreed with the points that I made about the 'C' word and indeed the 'P' word, including concurring with my FLQ analogy, and did indeed seem to be surprised, if not astonished, that the Quebec Human Rights Commission had failed and had effectively repeatedly refused to hold Rev. Ray Drennan and the Unitarian Church of Montreal accountable for their very obvious religious discrimination and harassment. As he once again went on his way Bernard Landry wished me luck by saying, "Bonne chance." I am quite sure that he was sincere in wishing me well. Of course, as far as I am concerned luck should not be part of the equation. Truth and some willingness on the part of the Quebec Human Rights Commission to responsibly carry out their mandate to deal with my own and other cases of religious discrimination and harassment is all I should really need.
Comments
I look forward to seeing what Mr. Landry will do for you.
You're being an idiot again indrax. Cults are not illegal in Canada and nothing I have said suggests that they are illegal in Canada. What is "illegal" or at least violates the spirit if not the letter of the The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms is falsely and maliciously labeling a person's religious activities as a "cult" or intolerantly and abusively accusing a person of being "psychotic" because they are claiming a religious experience of some kind.
:I look forward to seeing what Mr. Landry will do for you.
So do I but I am not expecting all that much beyond what he has said to me as I have reported here. None-the-less things may well get quite interesting if he does involve himself in this matter a little bit more than his recent brief discussions with me.
I love this post.