A Battle for Freedom of Speech and Religious Liberty: Bill Whatcott, the Evangelist, versus Ronan Oger, the Transgendered
This will be a very expensive Autumn for CAFE. We have intervenor status in the complaint by Ronan Oger, now calling himself Morgane, a transgendered activist who filed a complaint against Bill Whatcott for distributing some 1,500 leaflets during the May, 2017 British Columbia provincial election. Oger, it was publicized, a vice president of the NDP in B.C., might be the first elected transgendered creature in Canada. Oh, wow!
But it was not to be. Mr. Whatcott’s leaflet argued that the Bible says there are only two sexes: man and woman. If Oger can’t even get his sexuality straight, can he really be trusted to make weighty decisions on finance and other matters. Oger lost in an election that was trending NDP in urban areas. He threw a hissy fit and filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, alleging that Mr. Whatcott’s leaflets were discriminatory and wounded his “dignity” on the basis of his sexual identity. It might be argued that a guy who puts on a dress, earings and lipstick has already damaged his own dignity.
Ronan, now “Morgane” Oger
As bizarre as all this may sound, it’s actually quite serious. Part of our democratic freedoms is the right to support or challenge a candidate on the basis of character and policy. Bill Whatcott very skillfully challenged Oger’s delusions about sexual identity — he was married to a woman and fathered two children — and argued that such confusion raised questions about his suitability for public office. Should the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal find against Mr. Whatcott, we shall be seeing the limiting of one’s right even to criticize someone’s sexual identity. If I wake up one morning and feel I am Napoleon, no one should be compelled to address me as “Emperor”.
The Tribunal is already insisting that participants play in Oger’s delusional sandbox. In our submissions, we must refer to him as her/she. CAFE refuses to say the Earth is flat. So, our written submissions may seem awkward. Thus, “Oger’s complaint [we will not say, “Morgane”] was filed as retaliation for Oger’s having lost the 2017 election”. You get the picture.
There is strong reason to suspect that the Tribunal chair (no, that’s a piece of furniture), chairman (oops, that might be sexist), chairwoman (? whatever) is hopelessly biased. As of November 11, defence has not yet won a single motion. The chairman, Devyn Cousineau (that’s a woman) is a radical pro-lesbian activist and financial donor. For instance, in each of 2014, 2015, and 2016, she contributed between $100 and $249 to Qmunity, a group dedicated to “building better, queer, trans and 2-spirited lives 365 days of the year” and in 2013 an unspecified sum to the same cause. We have challenged her to recuse herself on the basis of “a reasonable apprehension of bias”. She has refused, but, perhaps, feeling vulnerable, late in the day asked the government to appoint two more adjudicators to make it a panel of three. The proceedings are getting nasty.
Oger’s lesbian lawyer is demanding $5,000 in costs before the hearing is even held. Cousineau has not yet ruled on this but notes: “Mr. Whatcott’s public comments are deliberately derogatory towards Ms. Oger. He is also, in colourful terms, highly critical of the Tribunal and me personally and clear in his view that this process is a ‘kangeroo court’.
CAFE, apparently, is limited to making submissions only on the main argument but not in procedural matters. Because we did make several other submissions, we, too, are under fire. We’ve been threatened. On November 1, Cousineau wrote: “CAFE is cautioned that its conduct in respect of Ms Oger’s costs application was improper [we were not supposed to make a submission] and that I will revoke its intervenor status if its attacks on Ms Oger continue.” [So, you shut up!]
Let’s just say, things are getting nasty. Mr. Whatcott has an excellent Victoria-based lawyer Charles Lugosi. We have paid for some legal work for our submissions thus far. The Tribunal will run from December 11-17 in Vancouver. I reckon the costs of our participation during the hearing will be $5,000. We desperately need your support today!
I am heading to Vancouver and the bank account is almost empty! We need your support TODAY. Earlier this year, the globalist censors at PayPal arbitrarily cancelled our account. Thus, we must rely on two old fashioned payment methods:
- Mail us a cheque or money order TODAY to CAFE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M94 5L3, CANADA.
- Or, if you feel comfortable, send your VISA or Mastercard number in two e-mails (number in one, expiry date in second) topaul@paulfromm.comOR call in this information to 416-428-5308.
Thanking you in advance for your support for the cause of free speech and, if it is not too politically incorrect, wishing you and your family a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Paul Fromm
Director
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION