The Supreme Court of Canada will be hearing a case on whether Saguenay City Council meetings can be opened with prayer recitations. The case was filed by Alain Simoneau. The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal ruled in favor of Simoneau. The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay. Now the case is being appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada by Alain Simoneau and the Quebec Secular Movement.
See the following articles:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/supreme-court-to-hear-the-saguenay-city-hall-prayer-case-1.2498935
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-to-hear-case-of-municipal-council-opening-meetings-with-prayer/article16364426/
The outcome of Simoneau's case will affect whether prayer recitations are allowed at government meetings across Canada including in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon. I was hoping my prayer recitation case would have that kind of impact, but Simoneau's case was filed first in 2006 and will set the legal precedent for Canada.
The Canadian Secular Alliance has been granted intervener status in Simoneau's case. They could use your support:
http://secularalliance.ca/media/special-projects/csa-prayer-case-fundraiser/
There won't be any further developments in my cases until 2015. The Christmas message case was dismissed by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
I, Ashu M. G. Solo, filed the following:
1. Civil rights case against the City of Saskatoon (Mayor's Office) and Councillor Randy Donauer for prayer recitations at government organized events
2. Code of Conduct complaint against Mayor Don Atchison for potential online campaign advertising violations
3. Civil rights case against the City of Saskatoon (Saskatoon Transit Services) for promoting holidays from only one religion on city buses
4. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (Executive Committee) for retaliating against me by not reappointing me to the Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Committee and not appointing me to another civic committee or board
5. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (City Solicitor’s Office) for retaliating against me by trying to deprive me of my right to directly communicate with members of City Council and by telling employees of other City of Saskatoon departments to not talk to me
6. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Office) and City of Saskatoon (Living in Harmony Ad Hoc Subcommittee of Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Committee) for retaliating against me by not considering my submissions to the Living in Harmony Contest
This site contains my media releases, some case documents, emails to City Council, etc.
I don't waste my time arguing with opponents.
The backlash makes me much more determined to fight against bigotry and shows the need for these civil rights cases, so I'll be filing more civil rights cases. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
MEDIA ALERT: Sask. Human Rights Commission Dismisses City of Saskatoon’s Application for Summary Dismissal of Ashu Solo v. City of Saskatoon and Randy Donauer
From: Ashu M. G. Solo
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 11:16 PM
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Sask. Human Rights Commission Dismisses City of Saskatoon’s Application for Summary Dismissal of Ashu Solo v. City of Saskatoon and Randy Donauer
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 11:16 PM
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Sask. Human Rights Commission Dismisses City of Saskatoon’s Application for Summary Dismissal of Ashu Solo v. City of Saskatoon and Randy Donauer
Dear Media,
I am attaching a scan of a letter and envelope from the
Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC). They have dismissed the City
of Saskatoon’s frivolous and vexatious application for summary dismissal of my
prayer recitation case against the City of Saskatoon (Mayor's Office) and
Councillor Randy Donauer. They have also dismissed a request by me for
the chief commissioner, Judge David Arnot, to recuse himself from dealing
further with this case because he has publicly praised Mayor Don Atchison and
knows Atchison from high school.
The City of Saskatoon could appeal the dismissal of their
application for summary dismissal at the Court of Queen’s Bench. If they
lose there, they could appeal at the Court of Appeal.
If they don’t appeal, the case will move forward.
This is the SHRC resolution roadmap:
As you can see in the attached letter, the arguments of
the City Solicitor's Office in its application for summary dismissal were
frivolous and vexatious and the SHRC recognized them as such.
The City Solicitor's Office says that I threaten human
rights complaints to advance my political agenda. There's nothing wrong
with someone threatening to file a human rights complaint if an organization
doesn't stop a discriminatory action against him. That's all I've done.
The City Solicitor’s Office says the media was
misinformed about not participating in mediation. SHRC sent me an email
message saying the City of Saskatoon wouldn’t participate in mediation. I
forwarded this to the media. Then the City Solicitor’s Office claimed it
would participate in mediation, but wasn’t available on the date set by
SHRC. Since then, I’ve repeatedly called for the City of Saskatoon and
Donauer to attempt mediation and they could agree at any time, but haven’t done
so.
The City Solicitor's Office claimed that the time
deadline wasn't met. No deadline was missed. I filed my intake
questionnaire with SHRC just 13 days after the volunteer appreciation banquet
in which Donauer tried to lead the audience in a prayer. I waited 13 days
because I first gave Atchison and Donauer the chance to agree to stop having
prayer recitations at future events. I had a year to file this intake
questionnaire according to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
The City of Saskatoon, Atchison, and Donauer are wasting
their time and taxpayer money by not agreeing to cease prayer recitations and
now by making frivolous and vexatious arguments to try to get this case
dismissed.
Atchison, Donauer, and my opponents are really petty for
not agreeing to get rid of prayer recitations at City of Saskatoon events and
for forcing me to go to SHRC. If this case goes to trial, I seek a
judgment that has the effect of banning prayer recitations at civic events
throughout the province of Saskatchewan and that has significant persuasive
value in other provinces too.
I'm fighting for a country where the government neither
promotes nor suppresses any religion, where the government neither favors nor
disfavors any religion, and where the government equitably treats people of all
religions, nonreligious spiritual people, agnostics, and atheists.
Here's a good article on freedom of and from religion in
Canada:
My three human rights complaints against the City of
Saskatoon for retaliation against me by the City of Saskatoon are still
pending:
I asked for these human rights complaints to be combined
into one case. SHRC has to decide whether there is reasonable grounds to
believe the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code may have been violated. If
they find reasonable grounds, then they will move forward with this case too.
If you have any questions, you can reach me at amgsolo@mavericktechnologies.us.
Best regards,
Ashu M. G. Solo
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