MEDIA ALERT: Solo Proposes Secular Thanks and Calls for Attempt at Mediation

From: Ashu M. G. Solo [mailto:amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us]
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 8:21 AM
To: amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us
Cc: city.solicitor@saskatoon.ca; shrc@gov.sk.ca
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Solo Proposes Secular Thanks and Calls for Attempt at Mediation

Dear Media:

I’m willing to drop my civil rights case against the City of Saskatoon (Mayor’s Office) and Councillor Randy Donauer for prayer recitations at civic events if they eliminate prayer recitations or come up with a secular thanks that has wording agreed upon by me in settling the case, that doesn’t reference a God or higher power, and that isn’t spiritual. 

While a moment of silence is better than a Christian prayer recitation, I’m unwilling to accept an official moment of silence because this is still an attempt by the municipal government to get people to pray and thus still violates the freedom from religion inherent to freedom of religion.  If people want to pray before they eat, they can take their own moments of silence or even say prayers aloud to themselves.  Nobody cares.  Nobody is stopping them.  There doesn’t need to be an official moment of silence. 

The Executive Committee has indicated that it would like a more inclusive pre-meal prayer or thanksgiving.  If the city wants to have a pre-meal thanks that is inclusive to everybody and socially conscious, I suggest the following: 

Let us be thankful for this food and the time together.  Let us think of all of the people in this city, country, and world who do not have enough to eat.  Let us think of those who have barriers or burdens they need lifted.  Let us think of those whose lives we can improve through our work.  Let us strive to use our knowledge, skills, and talents to help all of these people.

This pre-meal thanks, which I wrote, is much more inclusive than a Christian prayer recitation.  The only reason they wouldn’t be okay with this is if they want to push religion or a belief in God(s) on people.

I call upon the City of Saskatoon and Donauer to attempt mediation with me at the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to agree on a secular thanks that can then be approved by the city’s Executive Committee.  However, instead of attempting mediation with me, the City of Saskatoon is wasting taxpayer money with a frivolous and vexatious application for summary dismissal of my case.  This shows they don’t care about discrimination against religious minorities, spiritual people, agnostics, and atheists.

If you have any questions, I can be reached at amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us.  You can also talk to my advisor Justin Trottier, spokesperson for the Canadian Secular Alliance and founder of the Centre for Inquiry Canada, at info@secularalliance.ca.

Best regards,

Ashu M. G. Solo

MEDIA ALERT: City of Saskatoon is trying to get Solo's prayer recitation case dismissed by Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission

From: Ashu M. G. Solo [mailto:amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us]
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 8:38 AM
To: amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: City of Saskatoon is trying to get Solo's prayer recitation case dismissed by Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission

Dear Media:

I’m attaching a letter from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission that I received yesterday evening for Ashu Solo v. City of Saskatoon (Mayor’s Office) and Councillor Randy Donauer.  Instead of dealing with the substance of my prayer recitation case, the City of Saskatoon is making a frivolous and vexatious application to get this case dismissed.  This is a disgraceful tactic to keep discriminating against people.  They’re wasting the time and money of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

City of Saskatoon claims that the complaint was made in bad faith or for improper motives or is frivolous or vexatious.  Also, City of Saskatoon claims that there has been a lack of procedural fairness.  The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and I have met all of the legally required deadlines. 

Procedural fairness demands that I be able to see the City of Saskatoon’s application for summary dismissal, so that I can see what arguments they are making and have a chance to respond to them.  I’m going to see if I can get a copy of the City of Saskatoon’s application for summary dismissal from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

If the City of Saskatoon is successful in getting this case dismissed on a technicality, I’ll just file a new case with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission next time they have a prayer recitation at a civic event that I attend.

Donauer claimed that councillors voted against covering his legal expenses, but this isn’t true.  Mayor Don Atchison and Donauer claimed that Donauer would be responsible for any legal expenses that he might incur.  The truth is an Indemnification Review Committee will decide if any legal expenses by Donauer will be covered.

If you have any questions for me, I can be reached at amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us.  You can also talk to Justin Trottier, spokesperson for the Canadian Secular Alliance and founder of the Centre for Inquiry Canada.  Justin is an advisor to me on this case and can be reached at info@secularalliance.ca.

I’ve asked for Judge David Arnot, chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, to recuse himself from dealing with my cases.  It is a conflict of interest for Arnot to be involved in this case and to be involved in deciding how to proceed with this case.  Arnot and Atchison gave speeches at an event to start the cultural diversity and race relations month in 2012 in Saskatoon.  In these speeches, I learned that Arnot and Atchison are friends and went to high school together.  Furthermore, in Arnot’s speech, he praised Atchison’s record on human rights, despite the fact that he must have known Atchison had been abusing his office to endorse a Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast by allowing this event to be named after his office and Atchison had lead the opposition to the contract termination of Chief Dave Scott for doing nothing about aboriginals being dumped outside the city by criminal cops in the Saskatoon Police Service.  Arnot’s long friendship with Atchison could affect his ability to be neutral and unbiased with a complaint that was originally against Atchison, Donauer, and the City of Saskatoon and is now against the City of Saskatoon (Mayor’s Office) and Donauer.  For these reasons, I’ve asked the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to assign someone else to make the decisions on how to proceed with this case. 

However, instead of recusing himself from dealing with my cases, Arnot went on radio twice to talk about them.  Judges and human rights commission employees shouldn’t be talking to the media about cases in progress that they might be involved in.  I wonder why someone like Arnot who had the audacity to praise Atchison’s human rights record would even be in charge of a human rights commission.

Ashu Solo v. City of Saskatoon (Saskatoon Transit Services) for Christmas messages on buses isn’t over yet.  I’m going to take this case to the Court of Queen’s Bench when time permits.  The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission decides whether to pursue cases based only on the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.  At the Court of Queen’s Bench, I can make arguments based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The guarantees of religious equality and multiculturalism in the Charter will give me a much stronger case.

Best regards,

Ashu M. G. Solo

MEDIA ALERT: Mayor Don Atchison has been lying to the media and public

From: Ashu M. G. Solo [mailto:amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us]
Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2013 5:20 AM
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Mayor Don Atchison has been lying to the media and public

Dear Media:

David Kirton on News Talk Radio found that Councillor Randy Donauer had been lying to him about whether or not Donauer will be responsible for his legal costs for my human rights complaint against Donauer and the City of Saskatoon (Mayor’s Office).  You can hear David Kirton talking about this at  http://ckom.com/sites/default/files/CKOM-StoonAfternoon-RandyDonauer-Oct3.mp3  The City of Saskatoon’s indemnification policy was amended by the Executive Committee on September 30, 2013.  As a result, Donauer would know in advance of hiring a lawyer whether or not his legal costs would be covered.  After hearing the segment above, it’s obvious that Mayor Don Atchison has been lying too on News Talk 650 CKOM, CBC Radio, and Global News.  Atchison has been repeatedly saying that Donauer will be responsible for all of his own legal costs.  According to the new indemnification policy discussed at the link above, we don’t know yet whether or not Donauer will be responsible for his legal costs if there are any.  You might want to report that Atchison has not been truthful to the media or public too.

The following interviews with Atchison took place after the indemnification policy was amended by the Executive Committee, so Donauer would know in advance of hiring a lawyer whether or not his legal costs would be covered.  You can hear Atchison lying that Donauer is responsible for all of his own legal costs during these time stamps at these links:

2 min. 55 sec. to 3 min. 30 sec. at http://ckom.com/sites/default/files/JGLCITYHALLHOTLINEOCT1.mp3  (Don Atchison interviewed by Murray Wood on John Gormley Live on News Talk Radio on October 1, 2013)

6 min. 40 sec. to 7 min. 12 sec. at http://www.cbc.ca/player/AudioMobile/Saskatoon%20Morning/ID/2409512635/  (Don Atchison interviewed by Leisha Grebinski on Saskatoon Morning on CBC Radio on October 1, 2013)

1 min. 40 sec. to 2 min. 10 sec. in the bottom video at http://globalnews.ca/news/875171/prayer-debate-takes-centre-stage-at-saskatoons-executive-committee/  (Don Atchison interviewed on Global News on October 1, 2013)

Best regards,

Ashu M. G. Solo

MEDIA ALERT: Solo's Christmas Message Case Isn't Over Yet

From: Ashu M. G. Solo [mailto:amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us]
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 11:37 PM
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Solo's Christmas Message Case Isn't Over Yet

Dear Media:

As I said at http://ckom.com/story/provinces-human-rights-commission-rejects-merry-christmas-complaint/136401, my case about Christmas messages on Saskatoon Transit buses isn’t over yet.  I’m going to take this case to the Court of Queen’s Bench when time permits.  You haven’t heard the last of this case. 

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission decides whether to pursue cases based only on the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.  At the Court of Queen’s Bench, I can make arguments based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The guarantees of religious equality and multiculturalism in the Charter will give me a much stronger case than I had with the human rights code.  Therefore, the Court of Queen’s Bench is a much better avenue than the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission for me to argue this case.  There was no harm in trying the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission first, particularly because its process is simpler and involves no cost to the complainant and they provide legal representation.

It's my position that freedom of conscience in section 2a of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms includes freedom from religion, that section 15 of the Charter guarantees religious equality, that the Charter forbids attempts to coerce, limit, or otherwise influence the choice of religious observance, and that section 27 of the Charter on multiculturalism forbids conferring special privileges or benefits on any particular religion.  It's my position that a Christmas message on Saskatoon Transit buses violates these sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I think the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission made its decision based on the public backlash, not the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.  I think the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission chickened out of pursuing this complaint because it was highly controversial and they were afraid of the public backlash against the existence of the human rights commission.  But as Sylvester Stallone said in Rocky Balboa, “Ain’t nothing over till it’s over.”

At the Court of Queen’s Bench, I will seek a judgment that has the effect of banning religious messages by the state throughout the province of Saskatchewan and that has significant persuasive value in other provinces. 

My opponents shouldn’t be gloating because I’m just getting started in fighting for secularism.  You ain’t seen nothing yet.  I don’t care about media coverage like some people think.  I care about the advancement of freedom like every person should.

Best regards,

Ashu M. G. Solo