Canada: When ‘rights’ trump common sense

Mark Steyn

Maclean’s

Political correctness is putting hardworking Canadians out of business, said Mark Steyn. We’ve all been following the saga, now in its fourth year, of Ted Kindos, owner of Gator Ted’s bar in Ontario, who asked a man not to smoke pot in his restaurant and got sued for violating the fellow’s human rights. Turns out the smoker was disabled and had a doctor’s prescription for the pot. But when Gator Ted’s paid the fine mandated by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and prepared to put up a sign saying he welcomed medical marijuana users, another government agency told him he’d lose his liquor license if he sold booze to someone who was high. The courts are still hashing that one out.

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Then there’s Douglas McCue, a bed-and-breakfast owner with severe allergies. He refused to rent a room to a blind man with a seeing-eye dog, since allowing animals into his home would make him ill. The Human Rights Commission made him pay a hefty fine and he’s now out of business.

And now comes John Fulton, a gym owner who didn’t let a pre-op transsexual use the women’s shower because it made female clients uncomfortable. Will Fulton, too, have to close his shop?

The government sure is good at protecting “invented rights of near parodic absurdity.” Too bad that doesn’t include the right to make a living.