A plaque of the deceased Nepean police officer. Source: CBC News
Sometimes you come across a story so crazy, so utterly unbelievable and ridiculous that you actually check the link to see if you’ve stumbled across a spoof. Today’s story in the Province is one such example, involving a decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal awarding a cop killer $9,500 for “discrimination.”
The tribunal ordered Corrections Canada to pay the compensation to Peter Michael Collins, a 48-year-old man who shot and killed police Const. David Utman at a shopping centre in 1983 in cold blood.
Collins, who apparently has back pain, filed a complaint that required him to stand up for a head count by the corrections officers whose job it is to ensure prisoners are accounted for, and haven’t escaped. But that was too much for Collins, apparently, who couldn’t manage the once-a-day stand at attention, complaining of “adverse differentiation” on the basis of his disability.
Though the murderer is able to stand and walk, the tribunal heard that actually getting up can be painful. And since the correctional service admitted a failure in accommodating this disability, all that was left was for the tribunal to award damages.
But the tribunal was persuaded by Collins’ evidence that the act of standing up causes him additional pain. On that basis, it ordered the correctional service to pay Collins $7,000 for pain and suffering.
The tribunal awarded Collins a further $2,500 in special compensation, which can be ordered if the tribunal finds the discriminatory practice was wilful or reckless.
In Collins’ case, the tribunal found that two correctional service employees who twice persuaded a doctor to change her medical opinion that Collins should not be forced to stand acted recklessly. It rejected Collins’ claim that the discriminatory practice was intentional.
So now Collins is $9,500 richer, for his extreme pain and suffering at the hands of a cruel world.
It was on an October day in 1983 when 38-year-old father of two, Const. David Utman, was having coffee at a restaurant and happened to encounter an escaped inmate from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.
Aiming a handgun at Utman, the escaped inmate ordered the officer to stand up. He then shot him in the chest, killing him. The convict was recaptured and found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Now, more than 27 years later, this same escaped convict who forced a police officer to rise from a sitting position so he could shoot him in the chest, is awarded $9,500 by a kangaroo court of law for making him stand to ensure he hadn’t escaped. The irony is painful.
Liberals like to ban things, so let’s ban the HRC’s!
They’re so ridiculously useless most of the time, but when they reach out and harm society in such an offensive way, it’s really out of hand.
I think it might be reasonable for a HRC to look into this if the Correctional Service and Prison guards where still forcing the guy to get up but it is a totally different issue giving the guy cash for ” suffering “.
Since the issue seemed to have been settled when they gave a guy an exemption from getting up the rest is sort of stupid !
One reason stated for this policy was in part to check that the prisoner was still breathing and not sick or a bunch of pillows under the blankets while the guy was going over the wall: Some of it was and is for the safety of the prisoners since it has happened that guards missed noticing in the past that an inmate was dead or too sick to get up and failed to get him medical attention.
In the case of this guy asking him to raise his hand should be enough.
It’s just insane to give this guy money, acknowledging that he had a legitimate medical issue is O.K. in spite of the natural lack of empathize we feel for a murderer !
And yet our governments federal and provincial (Alberta) REFUSE to get rid of these enforcers of left wing policy and political correctness.
The feds fall back on the lame, tired excuse that they have a minority.
(Conveniently ignoring the fact that if they REALLY WANTED to destroy the HRCs they could find imaginative ways of doing so that do not require parliament’s approval)
The fact that the HRCs are still cranking out decisions like this are proof that the federal HRC has the CPC’s tacit approval.
If you write to the provincial government in Alberta regarding the Alberta HRC you will recieve a snide, condescending letter that answers nothing and dismisses your concerns.
” If you write to the provincial government in Alberta regarding the Alberta HRC you will recieve a snide, condescending letter that answers nothing and dismisses your concerns.”
But that is bureaucrats protecting their ” brother/sister ” bureaucrats because they have the same mind set !
If Harper tried to dismantle the HRCs right before an election it would probably be a repeat of the MSM and Opposition using some minor cuts to Arts Programs in Quebec to demonize the Conservatives.
Now I certainly hope that once we have a majority ( Well I hope we get it eventually ) the HRCs can be dismantled and genuine cases of human rights violations go in front of real courts with real rules of evidence with the losers on the hook if they bring bogus cases to court.
In more ambiguous cases where no bad faith is involved then maybe some costs might be absorbed by the system.
If HRCs should be maintained they should be limited to clear cases of discrimination or racism and deal in mediation but any punishments would have to go to a real court.
The HRC is a sickness that seems to elude a cure. Send the whole works to any muslim country for a reality check. Bunch of unelected busybodies. We have far too many social workers that should get out and find a real job.
Any government could starve the HRC’s out of existence by simply cutting their funding. That they do not is indicative that they ALL believe the HRC’s can be a useful tool,especially if they’re used to persecute an enemy of that government.
We have a reasonably good Justice System,with real rules of order,conduct,evidence,Courts manned by real Judges and lawyers,etc., yet NO political Party in Canada will reduce the power of the HRC’s,let alone eliminate them.
The HRC’s original mandate was to settle discrimination claims against landlords and employers,but every year they encroach on to the jurisdiction of other Crown agencies.
The HRC judgments are often bizarre, in this case,the complainant WAS allowed to not stand for roll call,so that should have been the end of the matter.
The HRC’s are nothing more than a means of forcing creeping totalitarianism on us,and it seems to be working beautifully for the Political Class.
The CPC has been in power long enough to render the HRCs impotent and no longer a threat to freedoms. They could have appointed management this organization that would act as “agents provocateur” that would work within the HRC to render it a hollow, ineffectual shell.
They could have instituted convoluted appeal rules and carefully crafted user fees that would
prevent this sort of B.S.
That fact that they apparently have done none of these things and the HRC is hard at work with this garbage is proof that they are in no hurry to take ANY action on the matter.
Their supporter HAVE TOLD THEM to get rid of the damned HRCs and the CPC has ignored them.
Perhaps the supporters should ignore the CPC and let them know how it feels.
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“But that is bureaucrats protecting their ” brother/sister ” bureaucrats because they have the same mind set !”
Quit making excuses for CINOs. I wrote the premier. If the AB conservative party wanted to get rid of the provincial HRC they’ve had plenty of time to do it. Since they have cut back on other departments and instituted a hiring freeze on all departments and yet STILL keep this useless duplication of service around indicates that they value it a great deal.
I’m not disagreeing with you and why we should continue putting pressure on the Conservatives to start doing some things as suggested rather than doing nothing.
Yup, I am making excuses because I hope that ultimately I won’t be disappointed and I support your efforts: I just don’t want divisions among small “c” conservatives letting the Liberals or the ” Coalition ” to sneak back in and put the so-called ” progressives fully in charge.
“If Harper tried to dismantle the HRCs right before an election it would probably be a repeat of the MSM and Opposition using some minor cuts to Arts Programs in Quebec to demonize the Conservatives.”
So in other words, you believe this would be a loser of an election issue for the CPC, which then means you believe those who want them abolished are not only in the minority, but also that those who want to retain them would actually vote to do so.
So your solution is for the CPC to keep silent on the issue, wait for a majority and then get rid of them, without giving people an opportunity to vote on the issue.
It is funny how some conservatives argue there is no secret agenda, and others promote a secret agenda.
” So in other words, you believe this would be a loser of an election issue for the CPC, which then means you believe those who want them abolished are not only in the minority, but also that those who want to retain them would actually vote to do so. ”
Nice try to give it your spin: Yes it would be risky because most people don’t even know the sloppy work done by the Human rights Commissions and the MSM would portray it as mean because who could possibly be against human rights after all ! I also compared it to the Arts Programs in Québec because it was a distortion of the facts that people bought into and that the Conservatives and Harper dropped the ball by not realizing the damage that was being done by this until too late in the campaign. Now trying to correct the impression that was being given by the Block and the French media was difficult considering the blatant alliance of a large portion of the French media with the Block.
And don’t accuse me of being anti French, I am French ! A unilingual Québec French speaker often gets a very one sided picture of the Conservatives or what is happening in the rest of Canada because most of our media is even more to the left than most of the English MSM.
Actually maybe the Conservative should start to dismantle the HRCs right now but they would have to explain clearly why they are doing it by exposing the abuses of power of the HRCs and some of their ridiculous rulings. The HRCs are actually doing a good job of doing the second part i.e. discrediting themselves.
What the Conservatives shouldn’t do is announce something during an election campaign without putting in the effort to defend the reasons for doing it and anticipate how the Opposition and/or the MSM will spin it negatively.
By the way, it’s normal to expect the opposition to tactically try to take advantage of any weakness in the Conservative campaign, it’s a little less normal when the MSM has a double standard in it’s reporting.
O.K. a double standard perceived and believed by Conservatives and I don’t expect to change your mind about anything.