Rights fracas draws international rebuke
Joan Bryden
Ottawa — The Canadian Press
Published on Friday, Mar. 05, 2010 4:14PM EST
Last updated on Friday, Mar. 05, 2010 4:22PM EST
The Harper government has drawn a blast of international criticism for its handling of the internecine fracas at a once-respected human rights and democracy promoting organization.
The International Federation for Human Rights weighed in Friday, denouncing “political interference” at the federally-funded, arm's-length agency Rights & Democracy.
The federation, an umbrella group of 155 human rights organizations operating in more than 100 countries, also slammed the government's choice of Gérard Latulippe as the troubled agency's new president.
It said Mr. Latulippe “does not have the moral authority to lead an organization like Rights & Democracy” given his past statements about the potential for Muslim immigrants to breed homegrown terrorism, his support for capital punishment and his opposition to same-sex marriage.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/rights-fracas-draws-international-rebuke/article1491566/Swell. We won't have a reputation left to salvage if we don't get Harper out of there.