Angry in the Great White North

Things that'll get you evicted in Toronto:

• Late payment or non-payment of rent


• Criminal activity in the apartment


• Endangering the other tenants


• Pissing off gay activists

Lee Konik has lived on Church Street for 25 years in a building managed by City Park Co-operative Apartments. Church Street is the central avenue in Toronto’s “gay village.” The section of downtown Toronto is home to the third largest gay population in North America, after San Francisco and New York.

At a Defend Marriage rally on May 23, Konik picked up a sign that read “Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman.” He placed the sign on his balcony where it was on display until after Gay Pride Week, which ended June 26.

He was threatened with eviction before when he put up a sign that read "gay shame", but he was allowed to stay after he was compelled to sign an agreement in which he promised not put up signs "that may be perceived as being directly or indirectly derogatory toward others, either during Gay Pride period or at other times."

The Charter is a joke, rights are for the politically active left-wing only, and no one, but no one, will defend you unless you can prove that you're "progressive".

In many cases, the speech that is suppressed conflicts with the Canadian government's official multiculturalist agenda, or is otherwise politically incorrect. For example, the Canadian supreme court recently turned down an appeal by a Christian minister convicted of inciting hatred against Muslims. An Ontario appellate court had found that the minister did not intentionally incite hatred, but was properly convicted for being willfully blind to the effects of his actions. This decision led Robert Martin, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Western Ontario, to comment that he increasingly thinks "Canada now is a totalitarian theocracy. I see this as a country ruled today by what I would describe as a secular state religion [of political correctness]. Anything that is regarded as heresy or blasphemy is not tolerated."

A great deal more censorship in Canada seems inevitable. For example, British Columbia's extremely broad hate-speech law prohibits the publication of any statement that "indicates" discrimination or that is "likely" to expose a person or group or class of persons to hatred or contempt. The Canadian thought police are on the march. Hopefully, it is not too late to stop them.

It's too late.

(Hat tip NealeNews)

[As an aside, some people might try to draw an equivalence to Charlie Angus, the NDP MP disciplined by the Catholic Church for his support for same-sex marriage. The differences should be apparent. Communion is given to those in God's grace. Charlie Angus is a rare example of someone who is clearly and publicly not in a state of grace. He is not being denied something he already bought and paid for. An apartment is paid for as per terms of a contract. It is not clear how a sign that makes a statement about what the tenant thinks marriage breaks the terms of the contract. He does not call out for violence, directly or indirectly. He is making a statement, and as with all statements, not everyone agrees with it. The rental agreement does not include a checklist of validly held opinions that need to be held in order to live in the apartment; receiving communion does.

We all know what this is: an opportunity to teach another Christian homophobe bigot a much needed lesson. Make an example of him, and maybe the others will shut up.]