Straight thoughts 28

May 4, 2000

The case of Scott Brockie, a Toronto printer who refused to print advertising material for a homosexual group, shows government intervention of the third level.

First level: A business is free to sell its services to whom it wants. To interfere with this freedom is to go against free market.

Second level: Even if the government did have rules imposing who a business' customer can or cannot be (a little more intervention than in totalitarian regimes), this still does not describe Mr. Brockie's case. He did not refuse an ordinary printing job (say an ad about groceries or electronics) and then decided he would not do it on the basis of the sexual orientation of the customer. In fact Mr. Brockie provided printing services for other gays and gay businesses in the past.

Third level: Mr. Brockie declined to print gay propaganda for a gay organization. In his words: "We will do work for gay people and even for gay businesses, but I don't want to do any work with political gay organizations – for organizations that have as their prime mission not a business, but the advancement of a gay cause". The level of intervention displayed in this case, against an independent business, not only requires a totalitarian mentality, but a biased, discriminatory, inquisition-type, politically correct agenda.
Mr. Brockie was found guilty by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and fined $5,000.00.
Can we freely live in a society where such State intervention and intolerance is displayed in the name of 'tolerance'?