GROUP ADDRESSES EDITORS' ALLEGATIONS THAT MACLEAN'S WAS PREPARED TO CONSIDER RESPONSE TO ISLAMOPHOBIC ARTICLE TORONTO - In a press conference today the Canadian Islamic Congress, represented by its legal counsel Mr. Faisal Joseph, and a group of law students who launched recent human rights complaints against Maclean's magazine for its refusal to publish a response to its October 2006 cover story, "The Future Belong to Islam," addressed allegations made by Maclean's in a recent editorial.
The editorial, which was published after the Ontario Human Rights Commission's condemnation of Maclean's for publishing a number of Islamophobic articles, refers to a March 2007 meeting between the students and the magazine's senior editors, Kenneth Whyte and Mark Stevenson; that meeting was held with Maclean's legal counsel, Julian Porter, in attendance. In their subsequent editorial, the editors claim they had been prepared to "give them [the students] an opportunity to have their say, but they gave us no opening for reasonable conciliation."
Ms Muneeza Sheikh (one of the students present at the March 2007 meeting) responded emphatically that, "The assertion that the editors were prepared to consider a reasonable counter-view article to Mark Steyn's Islamophobic polemic is a complete fabrication. They categorically refused to publish any response whatsoever, and in fact preferred bankruptcy."
Khurrum Awan, another member of the law students' group, added that "Despite this response, we continued to try and resolve the matter. We wrote directly to (CEO) Ted Rogers and asked for a meeting. Our legal counsel indicated at our press conference last year that we were prepared to meet with Mr. Rogers or his representatives to discuss a resolution. And in our op-eds, we made clear that what we are seeking is a reasonable opportunity to respond."
To date, none has been forthcoming. "Not once did Maclean's reciprocate our desire to discuss a response that would resolve the matter," said CIC legal counsel Faisal Joseph.
"However, in light of the editors' latest assertion, we have made today a fair and reasonable proposal," he continued. "In exchange for a mutually acceptable response to the Steyn article from an agreed-upon author, we would be prepared to settle this matter ... We hope that Maclean's will reciprocate our efforts to resolve this matter without a hearing before an independent quasi-judicial body in British Columbia."
For more information:
www.canadianislamiccongress.com/ar/Report_on_Macleans_Journalism.pdf www.canadianislamiccongress.com/mc/media_communique.php?id=997 CONTACT:
Faisal Joseph, CIC Legal Counsel
