By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 05, 2008
A Coldstream man has launched a fight over what he believes is discrimination against Christians. Dean Skoreyko has filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against Showcase Television and Kenneth Hotz, one of the stars of the series Kenny vs. Spenny. Skoreyko is upset with a recent episode in which a plane carried a banner over Toronto which reads: ‘Jesus Sucks.’ “A lot of people are offended,” said Skoreyko, who has talked to both friends and relatives about the episode. “My niece and nephew are proud of their church and beliefs and here’s another bashing of it.” Skoreyko questions if the episode would have aired if the banner had targeted someone from another religion. “It seems to be OK to poke fun at the (Christian) majority,” he said. Skoreyko first became aware of the banner by reading an article in a national newspaper. He then went online to see the episode.
The banner was apparently flown over Toronto because Hotz and his co-host Spencer Rice were competing to see how many people they could offend. Skoreyko is now waiting to see if the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal will accept his complaint and pursue the matter. Skoreyko’s actions have generated considerable media coverage across the country and debate on various Internet sites. Skoreyko is troubled by the tone of some of the comments. “You can’t even have a discussion or opinion about it,” he said, adding that some people have been threatening. “It’s just become childish all of a sudden.” Skoreyko ran for mayor of Vernon in 2005, and he has announced he will seek a seat on city council this November. Neither Showcase or Hotz could be reached for comment.
The stunt was part of a television contest to see who could be the most offensive. Hotz claims he originally wanted to have a banner saying "Heil Hitler" or "Guys are stupid", but the airplane banner company refused, saying those messages were too offensive. Apparently "Jesus sucks" isn't. - - - - -
I don't know Skorekyo, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually believe that he can get "justice" from the BCHRT. I don't think he wants it. I think he wants the opposite: he wants his case to be thrown out, so that he can prove what we all know to be true. In Canada's human rights industry, only certain political and religious views are protected from hurt feelings -- and Christians aren't one of them. - - - - -
That's why I haven't done what Skoreyko has done, and I don't recommend it. But I rather think he knows his complaint will be dismissed -- and so it won't add to the already overwhelming weight of precedents in HRCs to censor political and religious views in the name of hurt feelings. I think Skoreyko is counting on the opposite happening: for his case to be dismissed summarily, without even a hearing -- as proof that the HRCs are biased and arbitrary, and that they believe in the Animal Farm credo that all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
VANCOUVER - A B.C. man has filed a human-rights complaint alleging religious discrimination after a TV personality flew a plane pulling a "Jesus sucks" banner over Toronto. Dean Skoreyko of the northern B.C. town of Coldstream filed the complaint against Kenneth Hotz and Showcase TV. Skoreyko, who viewed the stunt online, said in an online form filed with the B.C. human rights tribunal that "my Christian beliefs and upbringing were publicly ridiculed." Hotz is half of the Kenny vs. Spenny show, which broadcasts their attempts to compete with one another. The offending stunt was part of a contest between Hotz and co-host, Spencer Rice, to see who could offend the greatest number of people.
Skoreyko, who once sought the nomination to run for the federal Conservatives in Okanagan-Shuswap, told the National Post he filed the complaint on behalf of the silent majority that would object to such antics. He said he wanted to make the point that the human-rights system applies double standards, favouring only minority interests.
Meanwhile, B'nai Brith Canada, which supports Canada's human-rights system, said it's time to reform and modernize the human rights commissions. It calls for investigators to be trained to distinguish between hate and protected political speech, and for complaints to be made to only one commission. And it asks for commissions to assess costs against complainants who file complaints to further a political agenda. Complainants' legal costs are now paid by the government, while respondents must pay for their own defence. B'nai Brith said it has successfully used the commissions to combat Nazism and neo-Nazi ideologies. "We have to ensure that commissions do not become abusers of the very human rights they are charged with protecting," said spokesman Frank Dimant in a release.
The B.C. tribunal controversially agreed to hear a complaint by Toronto Muslim law students who filed a complaint against author Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine after it excerpted his book America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, an intentionally provocative book about Muslims in the Western world. And the Alberta human rights tribunal came under similar fire for hearing a complaint against former publisher Ezra Levant, who published the Danish cartoons of Muhammad that sparked riots in some parts of the world. Both decisions are pending.
