Return of the 42: Peter Kent and the Canadian Coalition of Democracies

Dr. Dawg points out that Peter Kent is a senior member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies:

a group that appears to enjoy fomenting anti-Muslim hysteria. The organization even sucked in that indefatigable anti-Muslim campaigner and promoter of campus snitch lines, Daniel Pipes. Pipes was forced to retract comments he made about Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, which had been based upon misinformation received from CCD. (Pipes refers in his screed to Ezra Levant's further smears of Alghabra, which I dealt with some time ago, and makes additional defamatory remarks that need not concern us here.)

Those who have been paying attention have not been surprised to see the group, or its principal spokesmen, speaking on issues concerning the Middle East, terrorism, and security.

The group did appear, however, in an unexpected context during this past summer.

Many will remember that Brian Rushfeldt's Canada Family Action Coalition filed a complaint to the Judicial Council (pdf here) demanding that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Beverley Maclaughlin, be impeached for having chaired the committee that awarded the Order of Canada to Morgentaler. The petition was widely condemned as ridiculous, first because of its ignorance of the process and its disrespect for due process. As the Globe and Mail pointed out:

Accusing the Chief Justice of judicial misconduct … suggests these activists are merely looking for publicity. [...]

If the Canadian Family Action Coalition is concerned about the constitutionality of the provision under the Constitution of the Order of Canada requiring the Chief Justice to chair the advisory council, the group should challenge the requirements of the law. This complaint to the CJC about the Chief Justice's alleged misconduct is a cheap shot, and unconvincing.

The list of organizations supporting the Rushfeldt's petition also became a laughing stock once it became clear that it was padded by the presence of private businesses, micro-organizations, transparent astroturfing shells, and much double- and triple-counting (see here).

(The complaint, unsurprisingly, was dismissed as being without merit.)

Among the organizations supporting the petition, however, was the Canadian Coalition for Democracies. (It is 11th in Rushfeldt's list.)

The question that needs to be asked is whether Peter Kent, who is a senior member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies, had anything to do with this ridiculous charade.

Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index