On July 4 the Governor General for Canada announced that on Thursday, August 8, Birju Dattani will begin a five year $360,000/annum position as the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wales and a Master of Laws from the London School of Economics. He holds no Canadian degrees. He will have responsibility to promote and protect Human Rights, and have power to decide what is hate speech for Canada.
The Government said Dattani failed to disclose in his interviews that he used a pseudonym, Mujahid Dattani, when he was a regular and frequent participant in BDS discussions and anti-Israeli activities in England and abroad. Dattani spoke together with persons who have close connections to terrorism including former Guantanamo Bay inmates. His sole published paper is in “ The Palestine Yearbook of International Law”. Among his quotations is ‘Terror is not an irrational strategy’. His social media was recently deleted from the web. There are almost no photos of him. One does not know whether he is married or has a family. There is no record of his human rights activity on behalf of Tibetans, Uighurs, or oppressed minorities other than Muslims.
Arif Verani, the Minister of Justice for Canada, a Ugandan like Dattani, appointed employment lawyer Sarah Crossley of the firm Filion, Wakely, Thorup, Angeletti to lead an independent review of this appointment. She has not reported yet.
There are many questions that one might want answered. How many candidates for the Chief Commissioner position were there? Who was on the panel that decided to select him? Who recommended Dattani for the Yukon position? Who recommended Dattani for the Federal position? Who paid for Dattani’s trip to Turkey where he spoke on the War on Terrorism. Does Dattani agree with the statement “the Jews are the indigenous population of Israel” or does he consider it hate speech? He was a curious choice for such a sensitive position.
Irwin Pressman
Professor Emeritus
Carleton University
