Rights and Liberties, Winter 2009, Volume 14, No. 1

Human Rights Award Winners [1]

On Wednesday, December 10, 2008, International Human Rights Day, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties jointly presented the Human Rights Commitment Award of Manitoba and the Sybil Shack Human Rights Youth Award at a dinner celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

To speak or not to speak, that is the question: Free speech is a sword, not a shield [2]

Ken Mandzuik

An article appearing in the Manitoban at the University of Manitoba on November 3, 2008 led to a flurry of debate over whether the article should have been published with the disputed word in place. (The article can be found at http://www.themanitoban.com/comments/its-time-prioritize-our-children [3].) Ken Mandzuik, MARL’s Immediate Past President, responded with the following commentary.

Communications Committee Update [4]

Michael Conner - Chair of the Communications Committee

MARL is excited to announce that we now have a new blog which gives everyone an opportunity to voice their opinions about important issues concerning human rights and civil liberties. Simply go to our website at www.marl.mb.ca [5] and link to one of the discussion topics posted. From there you can post your comment on a topic of interest. We’d especially love to hear from our members. It’s a great way to stay in touch with our members and keep a vigorous exchange of ideas flowing. Many thanks to Peter Sim for his technical expertise in setting up the blog site.

Charter Rights & Legislative Review Committee Update [6]

Shereese Qually, Chair

Since our last update there has not been a lot of exciting legislative activity - although more is promised in the next few months which will keep the Charter Rights and Legislative Review Committee (CRLRC) very busy! Over the last few months the CRLRC has been working to update MARL's various policies and position papers. We have discussed a variety of hotly contested subjects which have led to interesting and exciting discussions. In particular, we have reviewed and made recommendations to the Board with respect to the ability of minors to make medical decisions.

Education Committee Update [7]

Estelle Lamoureux - Chair

One of MARL’s raison d’être is to educate. The power of education is to provide our citizens with the necessary tools and information to enter into critical dialogue on issues that impact on our rights and liberties. One of our roles is to educate the youth of today to be the future human rights guardians of tomorrow. G.K. Chesterton expressed it so well – “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” MARL has taken this to heart.

Board Development Committee Update [8]

Gus Boetzkes

At the last annual general meeting (AGM) in June, the election slate prepared by your Board Development Committee (BDC) was short two candidates needed to make up a full complement of nine Board members. While a Board of seven is enough for the Board to function properly, it is much more desirable to have nine members on the Board because MARL depends on its Board members to help out on committees and other activities. The Board after all is a working Board and we are best served by having all positions filled.