Back in 1215, when Magna Carta was forced on the King of England, "rights" meant "privileges". The "right to a trial of one's peers", for example, was a privilege which a group - in this case peers of the realm, aka lords - had acquired generations before from a previous king. (BTW, Magna Carta is not a bill of rights. It is a demand that the king recognize the privileges various groups had " in their grandfather's time" which King John had been trying to abolish.)

In my life time, we have started going back to this group-privilege version of rights. There are Americans, self-professed Free Men and Women, claiming everyone has a right to food, shelter, and health care. A right to food, shelter, or health care requires that some person ( let's call him Ezra) make and give another person ( let's call him, Bob) bread, a house, or an MRI, for nothing. What does that make of Ezra? A slave. He is forced to give up his labor for Bob's benefit. What does that make of Bob? A privileged person. He does not need to do anything to obtain Ezra's property and labor, while Ezra needs to work to satisfy Bob's "rights".

Now, think of rights as we understood them 40 years ago. Free Speech. No matter what Bob says, his speech does not require anything of anyone else. Ezra is not required to work for Bob's speech. Ezra is not required to give up his property for Bob to make his speech. Ezra is not even required to listen. Freedom of the Press. Again, Ezra does not have to do anything, or give up anything for Bob to publish his wildest thoughts. ( BTW, Bob does not have to be a member of the Press Corps to possess this right. The signifier "The Press" comes from the wording of the First Amendment. Everyone has the right to publish their thoughts, in spite of the Supreme Court upholding McCain-Feingold. The government did not give us our rights and it cannot then take them away.)

Yes, I am rehashing old news. We all know this. And yet, Ezra Levant was interrogated by his government for cartoons that he published! He has been charged with violating Bob's right to go through life without being offended. OK, fine. That is not how The Alberta HRC put it, but that is what it is. He was required, by law, to appear before a government tribunal to answer to the charge that "Bob" was offended by the cartoons Mr. Levant published.

Obviously enough officials in the Alberta gov't believe that Bob is a privileged person to proceed with the interrogation of Ezra for exercising his rights to Free Speech and Freedom of the Press. Bob has privileges, because he can mobilize the government to force Ezra to be silent. How did Bob acquire these Privileges?

Ezra Levant makes his case better than I can. My favorite part is when he tells the Tribunal that he published the cartoons again, that day.

http://ezralevant.com