Svend attack

British Columbia MP Svend Robinson confronted pro-life activist Father Tony Van Hee on Parliament Hill in December, in what many observers feel is an assault on religion and free speech.

On Dec. 7, the gay NDPer, who last year introduced a petition that sought to remove references to God from the Constitution, grabbed the Jesuit priest’s pro-family placard, tried to crush it, and then threw it over a concrete wall.

Fr. Van Hee is a fixture on the Hill, protesting every day outside the west entrance of the Centre Block in front of the door Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and most MPs use. His signs bear basic pro-life and pro-family messages drawn from the teaching of the Catholic Church. Now into his eleventh year of daily witnessing, the Ottawa Citizen reports that Fr. Van Hee has been given a security pass by House of Commons Speaker Gilbert Parent.

Still, Fr. Van Hee has hit a nerve with Robinson. But it is Robinson who is now being criticized. On Jan. 13, Toronto Independent MP John Nunziata said Robinson should apologize to Fr. Van Hee for interfering with his freedom of speech, especially after having cited Charter of Rights guarantees to freedom of speech and “sexual orientation” for years in advance of his own homosexualist, secularistic and pro-euthanasia causes.

Nunziata said, “I just find it annoying that he would attack a mild-mannered priest for expressing his views when a lot of people have tolerated Svend’s extreme views and defended his right to express those views.”

In an open letter to Robinson, Nunziata wrote, “To challenge Father Van Hee is one thing, but to do so with violent actions is quite another matter. By your conduct you have aligned yourself with the fringe element of those who pursue results at any cost.”

Nunziata isn’t the only one who has pointed out Robinson’s hypocrisy. Ajax Liberal MP Dan McTeague called him a bully, adding, “I guess freedom of speech, a right given by Parliament, is a one-way street for Mr. Robinson.”

According to the Jan. 14 Ottawa Citizen, Robinson admits to throwing one of Fr. Van Hee’s signs over a wall but refused to apologize and denied trying to crush the sign, which read. “Sexual orientation. Defeat of reason. Protecting disorder.”

Fr. Van Hee also says Robinson threatened to get him evicted from Parliament Hill. Robinson denies the charge, although The Report newsmagazine said Jan. 24 that the RCMP on the Hill are investigating whether Fr. Van Hee’s signs are legal.

The Hill Times, the Parliament Hill newspaper, seemed to blame Fr. Van Hee for the incident. It cheekily began its three paragraph story as follows: “It doesn’t take much to get openly gay MP Svend Robinson really angry. Just 10 years of in your face picketing against ‘deviant’ homosexuality will do.” But this is not the first confrontation between Robinson and Fr. Van Hee.

Robinson had earlier threatened to have Commons security remove one of Fr. Van Hee’s signs that described homosexuality as “an objective disorder leading to deviant acts.” At the request of security, Fr. Van Hee removed the poster himself.

It is unclear what, if any consequences Robinson will face for his “in your face” tirade.

At the very least, Speaker Gilbert Parent should discipline Robinson, and Robinson should make public whatever action Parent takes against him.) Apparently such an action remains confidential unless the MP in question chooses to reveal it.) The fact that Robinson interfered with someone else’s property is the least serious of his actions – he directly attacked another Canadian’s freedom of speech, a fundamental right in a free society. Moreover, as an MP, Robinson should be held to the strictest standards of respect for the constitutionally-guaranteed liberties of all citizens. If justice is not done in this case, and is not also seen to be done, the scandal will be great indeed.

Parent and Robinson, however, are not the only ones who have a duty to respond appropriately to this outrage. All Christians, all religious people, and all Canadians who believe in natural law, must refuse to tolerate such bigotry and oppression. Ever since sodomy was decriminalized by Pierre Trudeau’s liberals in 1969, the gay lobby has been moving gradually toward ciminalizing Christianity. At first Canadians were asked merely to tolerate homosexual acts; but from the moment we gave in to that demand, we’ve been told increasingly that we must accept and even celebrate what was once considered abominable. Fr. Van Hee’s signs said nothing that cannot be found in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church and in the authoritative teachings of other historic religions. If we allow the likes of Svend Robinson to brand our beliefs as “hate crimes,” in the end we will have no one to blame but ourselves.