By Tim Waggoner
OTTAWA, September 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After being denied his request to be exempt from paying dues to a union whose “radical agenda supercedes the rights of workers” (the Public Service Alliance of Canada) Dave MacDonald two weeks ago filed a 10-page complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). MacDonald claims that he has been discriminated against and harassed based on his religious beliefs, in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In his complaint, MacDonald explains how the government operated Treasury Board heard and denied his request not to pay union dues to PSAC, a decision he says violates his “freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of association, liberty, and equality rights” by discriminating against him on the basis of a “prohibited ground, namely, religion.”
Although MacDonald, a faithful Catholic, has no qualms about paying dues to trade unions, he detailed how PSAC does not operate as a “trade union” but rather as a “political organization”, which according to his religious beliefs is not an entity he should be forced to support. MacDonald provided countless examples in his complaint detailing how PSAC has over the years worked to further the homosexual agenda instead of the good of the workers PSAC is supposed to be representing.
He described how in 2004, during a meeting of local presidents, PSAC officials said that they would not “support a Conservative candidate for office if they were 100% supportive of labour issues,” because the “Conservative Party was homophobic.”
He also mentioned how PSAC has close ties to the political action group Equal Marriage, which advocates for same-sex “marriage.” When Alex Munter, president of Equal Marriage, ran for the office of mayor of Ottawa, he did so rent-free out of PSAC offices on Gilmour Street in Ottawa with the aid of paid PSAC employees.
This should come as no surprise, said MacDonald, because in 2004 the PSAC refused to end a strike because they would not accept a government offer from the Treasury Board unless it included a definition of marriage recognizing same-sex couples. In fact, PSAC President John Gordon told MacDonald that justices of the peace have no right to refuse to “marry” same-sex couples. Gordon stated that if they were PSAC members the union would not represent them “because they are wrong.”
In the complaint MacDonald also details how he believes the PSAC discriminates against Catholics and is guilty of anti-Catholic hate offences.
He observes that the PSAC linked to a web page that is supposed to offer insight on the same-sex “marriage” (https://www.samesexmarriage.ca), but that contains a significant amount of anti-Catholic hate literature. Amongst other things it includes the following quote from Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell: “Although same-sex couples and their children now enjoy the benefits of equal marriage, the arrival of gay marriage has underscored the need to protect Canadian citizens and society from the extremist, hate-filled dogma of the Catholic Church, as promoted by the Vatican and the Bishop of Rome.”
The website also contains images bashing the religion and the Catholic Church, with phrases such as, “Vatican collaboration with the Nazis.”
PSAC’s “radical” politically motivated agenda, said MacDonald, is further demonstrated by PSAC Policy 31, which states the PSAC has “zero tolerance” for heterosexism, which includes not only behaviours, but beliefs. Under Policy 31, “all members are to be ‘educated’ to accept the doctrine of anti-heterosexism, without regard to one’s religious convictions,” he said.
MacDonald said Policy 31 “discriminates against members of PSAC, Catholics in particular, by using mandatory dues not only to advocate issues that are offensive to many Catholics, but also to use those dues with the intent to rid them from the membership as per policy 31, or at least reprogram them through ‘education’.”
MacDonald is awaiting a reply from the CHRC regarding his complaint letter, and hopes that the tribunal will grant him exemption from paying union dues to PSAC and its homosexual agenda as well as put an end to PSAC’s anti-Catholic activities.
To voice concern, contact PSAC President John Gordon:
[email protected]