Rights and Democracy board member David Matas was good enough to send along this new text about the dispute at the Montreal organization. (Today’s Globe story is one place you could go to get caught up on the controversy so far.) It’s a rather bold attempt to persuade everyone that there’s no reason to fuss. I’ll be writing more about Rights and Democracy this weekend. But first, since Matas is much better about getting back to me than Aurel Braun has been, it’s only fair to give him his say. What follows are Matas’s words, not mine:



Reframing

(A comment on the media controversy surrounding Rights and Democracy)

by David Matas

Remy Beauregard, the former president of Rights and Democracy, died of a heart attack the night of January 7, 2010. Some of the staff of Rights and Democracy in the name of all of them released a letter dated January 11, 2010 calling on the leadership of the Board of Directors to resign, accusing them of harassment of the former president. The accusation of harassment was directed against the chair and vice-chair of the Board, Aurel Braun and Jacques Gauthier, and the chair of the audit and finance committee, Elliot Tepper.

The letter did not indicate what was the activity of the Board members which caused concern. The fact that the charge was levied against the leadership of the Board indicated that in substance the issue was rather about the role of the Board. The letter itself hinted at this, accusing the three of having a “complete misunderstanding of your role as Directors”. Continue…