Human rights investigator flags 'blatant untruth'



Betty Ann Adam, with file from Rod Nickel
The StarPhoenix
April 26. 2004

Pamphlets distributed by Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Jim Pankiw used "crassly manipulative strategies" and "blatant untruth," wrote an expert who analysed them for the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).

Commission investigator Richard Warman has recommended a Canadian human rights tribunal be called as a result of the report's findings.

The pamphlets, titled Stop Indian Crime and It's Clear who the Racists are discriminate against aboriginal peoples and incite others to discriminate, wrote Derek Smith, a sociology professor from Carleton University who specializes in aboriginal affairs.

Smith was commissioned to analyse the pamphlets for Warman's investigation into nine complaints about the two pamphlets, which were distributed in the Saskatoon area in 2002 and 2003.

The tribunal is similar to a court of law but is less formal and deals only with cases of discrimination referred to it by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The commission can be compared to the police, which receives and investigates complaints.

If a tribunal finds a complaint is substantiated, it could order Pankiw to cease the discriminatory practice and pay as much as $20,000 in compensation for pain and suffering caused by the discrimination.

That amount could, theoretically, be doubled, if the tribunal found Pankiw to have discriminated willfully or recklessly.

John Melenchuk, a Metis activist in Saskatoon, complained in February 2003 about the Indian Crime pamphlet, alleging that he and other aboriginal people had been discriminated against through adverse differential treatment and harassment in the provision of a public service. He alleged the pamphlets incited others to discriminate too.

That pamphlet bore a red stop sign above the words "Indian Crime." On the back was a well-known photograph of a Canadian soldier and a Mohawk protester facing each other during the 1990 Oka crisis. The pamphlet identifies the masked Mohawk as a terrorist.

Melenchuk complained that his eight-year-old son had asked him if he is a terrorist as he handed his father the pamphlet.

Melenchuk said Sunday that while the commission decision is good news, he's disappointed that Pankiw has continued to distribute pamphlets in the 16 months since Melenchuk filed his complaint.

"In the meantime, he put out two more householders and poisoned a whole other generation of non-Native youth," Melenchuk said.

The CHRC will decide whether to request a tribunal at its next meeting, probably in summer, Melenchuk said. Such a tribunal hearing would probably not happen before fall, he added.

Pankiw laughed repeatedly Sunday when contacted for an interview about the report.

"You have a government tribunal, an extension of government, taking on an elected official? How preposterous, outrageous and ridiculous.

"All I'm doing is my job, exposing wasteful mismanagement in government."

Pankiw denied any inaccuracies in his pamphlets, choosing instead to criticize a reporter repeatedly as a "useless, slimy piece of dirt.

In his 19-page report, Smith found the Oka photograph did not have a "single thing" to do with the context of the pamphlet and was "so gratuitous and so provocative as to constitute a blatant untruth."

Pankiw's letter to constituents in the pamphlet asserts that the federal government and Indian lobbyists have ignored evidence that explains why there is a greater percentage of aboriginal people incarcerated than of the general public.

Smith calls that statement "a gross untruth," saying the issue is one of the most discussed and debated issues within government departments that deal with aboriginal peoples.

Pankiw misquoted the Criminal Code in the pamphlet, according to the investigation, creating the impression that judges consider sanctions other than prison for aboriginals only. The code says non-prison sanctions should be considered for all offenders.

A second pamphlet analysed by Smith bore a photograph of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau with former Indian leader David Ahenakew, who was censured in 2002 for praising Hitler's slaying of Jews. The photograph does not have anything to do with the discussion of policy in the pamphlet; it simply exploits negative views and attitudes about aboriginals to gain support for Pankiw's "heavily racialized view."

Pankiw's negative comments about "race-based hiring quotas" have nothing to do with the rest of the pamphlet and are likely an attempt to exploit the negative effects of the photograph and offensive remarks quoted in the pamphlet, Smith wrote.

"This is yet another example of the crassly manipulative strategies," of the pamphlet, Smith wrote.

Pankiw's claim that Indians are exempt from paying taxes is a "gross oversimplification and overgeneralization," Smith wrote.

Pankiw responded to the commission that it doesn't have jurisdiction over him as a member of Parliament. But if it did have jurisdiction, Pankiw said, he was doing his duty as an MP, not providing a service.

Pankiw also wrote in his response to the complaint that his opinions derived from government publications already in the public domain and did not discriminate or harass.

Smith found Pankiw's letter of defence to be "inflammatory, immoderate, uncivil, overstated and (amounting) to a rant saturated with the same sorts of racialized epithets and ideas" as the second pamphlet.

The CHRC does have jurisdiction, said Joseph Maingot, a former Clerk of the House of Commons and author of the work, Parliamentary Privilege in Canada, who was consulted by the commission.

The pamphlet was issued by Pankiw as an individual MP and thus was not protected by immunity provided to Parliament as a whole, Maingot wrote.

© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)





CHRC investigator calls for tribunal

Betty Ann Adam
Saskatchewan News Network; CanWest News Service

April 26, 2004

SASKATOON -- Pamphlets distributed by Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Jim Pankiw used "crassly manipulative strategies," and "blatant untruth," wrote an expert who analysed them for the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).

CHRC investigator Richard Warman has recommended a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal be called as a result of the report's findings.

The pamphlets, headed "Stop Indian crime" and "It's clear who the racists are," discriminate against aboriginal peoples and incite others to discriminate, wrote Derek Smith, a sociology professor from Carleton University who specializes in Aboriginal affairs.

Smith was commissioned to analyse the pamphlets for the CHRC, as part of its investigation into nine complaints about the two pamphlets, which were distributed in the Saskatoon area in 2002 and 2003.

The tribunal is similar to a court of law but is less formal and deals only with cases of discrimination that are referred to it by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The commission can be compared to the police, which receives and investigates complaints.

If a tribunal finds a complaint is substantiated it could order Pankiw to cease the discriminatory practice and could order him to pay up to $20,000 compensation for pain and suffering caused by the discrimination.

That amount could, theoretically, be doubled, if the tribunal found Pankiw to have engaged in the discriminatory practice wilfully or recklessly.

John Melenchuk, an outspoken Metis activist, complained in February 2003 about the "Indian crime," pamphlet, alleging that he and other aboriginal people had been discriminated against through adverse differential treatment and harassment in the provision of a public service. He also alleged the pamphlets incited others to discriminate too.

That pamphlet bore a red stop sign above the words Indian Crime. On the back was a famous photograph of a Canadian soldier and a Mohawk protester facing each other during the 1990 Oka crisis in Ontario. The pamphlet identifies the masked Mohawk as a terrorist.

Melenchuk complained that his eight-year-old son asked him if he was a terrorist as he handed his father the pamphlet.

Melenchuk said Sunday that while the CHRC decision is good news, he is disappointed that Pankiw has continued to distribute pamphlets in the 16 months since Melenchuk filed his complaint.

"In the meantime he put out two more householders and poisoned a whole other generation of non-native youth," Melenchuk said.

The CHRC will decide whether to request a tribunal at its next meeting, which is probably sometime this summer, Melenchuk said. Such a tribunal hearing would probably not happen before this fall, he said.

Pankiw did not return requests for an interview Sunday.

In his 19-page report, Smith found the Oka photograph did not have a "single thing" to do with the context of the pamphlet and was "so gratuitous and so provocative as to constitute a blatant untruth."

Pankiw's letter to constituents in the pamphlet asserts that the federal government and Indian lobbyists have ignored evidence which proves why there is a greater percentage of aboriginal people incarcerated than in the general public.

Smith calls that statement "a gross untruth," saying the issue is one of the most discussed and debated issues within government departments which deal with aboriginal peoples. He goes on to cite a half-page list of writings on the topic.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2004