As I wrote about this morning, the CBC reported today that “the Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.”
Various devotees of Israel, such as David Frum, spent the morning insisting that the CBC story is false. Now, the Harper government is following suit, issuing a (nonresponsive) statement that reads, in its entirety: “This [CBC] story is inaccurate and ridiculous. These laws have been on the books for many years and have not changed.”
Below is the email exchange between the CBC reporter, Neil Macdonald, and the spokesman for the Public Safety Department that leaves no doubt that the Harper government did exactly what the CBC reported: namely, cited various criminal hate speech laws when asked what, specifically, the Canadian Government would do to enforce its so-called “zero tolerance policy” against advocates of boycotting Israel. They added that “we will not allow hate crimes to undermine our way of life, which is based on diversity and inclusion”:
Email from Public Safety spokesperson Josée Sirois to CBC’s Macdonald:
Good afternoon Mr. Macdonald,
We received your voicemail on our media relations line.
Glad to assist with your request. If you could please send us your
question(s) and your deadline, we’ll do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Josée
Josée Sirois
Spokesperson / Porte-parole
Media Relations / Relations avec les médias
Public Safety Canada / Sécurité publique Canada
READ MORE: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/11/email-exchange-cbc-public-safety-minister-blaneys-spokesman-bds-prosecutions/
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