Section 13(1), Marc Lemire and Me

It would be nice to have history record that only two lawyers stood up for free speech in Marc Lemire's case. Barbara Kulaszka and I were those two lawyers. Even though Barbara invited the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to intervene, they never did.

It would be nice if people recognized that I have appeared for free speech cases in the Supreme Court of Canada more than any other lawyer in Canadian history. I argued for free speech in the orginal case of John Ross Taylor where the Supreme Court of Canada for the first, last and only time upheld section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. I stood there against about 15 other lawyers on the other side. I appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada in Zundel's case twice, in Keegstra's case, in Tony McAleer's case, and in Keegstra's case again. I argued before the Supreme Court of Canada in Malcolm Ross. In all but Zundel's Case, I lost, usually by 4 to 3 or 5 to 4.

But now the tide is turning. The slippery slope I warned them about has now demonstrated that power over the speech of political adversaries is a deadly combination, prone to abuse. After Ezra Levant's and Mark Steyn's cases, it became a "dangerous" law because it stifled "good people" not "neo-Nazis" and "racists." It would be nice if the media and the people recognized I was right all along. It would be nice to be recognized as the one who for the principle, and alone, stood for what is right.

It will never happen.

But why should I care? What part of me now cries out for justice, for me? For consolation for the pain of a thousand defamations? I'll tell you: the part that is not authentic, that's what part.

The day that I or anyone lives not for the truth of what they believe, for the truth itself, for the principle, they have become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. They have ceased to be who they really are. They have become a plaything of the fickle fortunes of the mass mind. They have become a mere actor, playing for applause. They are living for approval and not of their God or the truth, but for the fleeting popularity of the latest public opinion poll. They have lost the power to lead because they are not authentic. They are not sincerely true to the facts and truth they possess. They lose track of who they are, much like actors do in becoming their role.

So what am I saying? Have I become irredeemably lost because I long to be recognized, approved of, admired and extolled as a man of courage and wisdom? No, because I recognize this is an area of weakness and foolishness in myself. Everyone of us every day has to struggle with the temptation to be what others want us to be, rather than what we ought to be. We must strive to be our authentic self, which is the best person we can be.

I believe authenticity is not just spontaneity and mindless pursuit of adulation. It is the constant struggle to re-examine our motives, to assess our principles in light of our behaviour, to seek to overcome the part of ourselves which is always saying, "Surrender! The fight is too hard, the way is too lonely! No one will understand, or appreciate you! See, you are hurting those who love you. Give up your long-suffering principles and become like the rest of them!"

This voice is always there. It tempted the greatest of persons and it speaks to me. But the authentic person will struggle against this, as we all must do, all our lives.