The Boissoin Case: Remedy Decision

I've apparently been sleeping - at the end of May, the Alberta Human Rights Panel released the Remedy Decision in the Boissoin Letter case. (My comments on the ruling itself are here)

The decision itself boils down to a few basic points:

1. A joint apology for the letter, to be published along with the remedial decision itself in the Red Deer Advocate newspaper. (Appropriate, as the Advocate was the newspaper that published Boissoin's letter in the first place)

2. A "Don't Do It Again" order. Again, no big surprise here - although I can imagine that Boissoin and Ezra will be crying foul over this.

3. An order to compensate Dr. Lund to the tune of $5000, and to pay the expenses of one of the witnesses at the hearings to a maximum of $2000. (This is a "joint-and-several" liability - in other words it is up to Boissoin and CCC to decide how best to divide that up.

I had hoped that there would have been a directive in there obliging Dr. Lund to funnel whatever funds he received into programs intended to combat discrimination against GLBT people - something he has said he would do, but it would have been appropriate to request some kind of accounting of the disposition of those funds.

There are a couple of interesting asides in the decision itself:

That Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. shall cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals. Further, they shall not and are prohibited from making disparaging remarks in the future about Dr. Lund or Dr. Lund’s witnesses relating to their involvement in this complaint. Further, all disparaging remarks versus homosexuals are directed to be removed from current web sites and publications of Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc.

Essentially, this is a "cease-and-desist" order. What is interesting is the way the order itself is broader than the letter that was the subject of the complaint, and includes Dr. Lund and witnesses involved in the testimony phase. I find this intriguing because it seems at first a bit unusual, but it also reflects the surprisingly public and vicious approach taken by Boissoin's backers towards this whole affair.

Now we get to see what - if anything - happens with whatever appeals Boissoin et. al. decide to launch.