On the face of it, this would be good news. After all, the journalists sound as though they're defending Steyn. (Via Instapundit):
The Canadian Association of Journalists has formally applied for standing as an intervenor at the upcoming British
Columbia Human Rights Tribunal hearings on a complaint of religious and racial discrimination against Maclean's magazine....
The CAJ has applied to intervene in defence of freedom of the press, freedom of expression and because journalists' interests are clearly affected, on many levels, by the proceedings. One argument the CAJ hopes to make is that human rights cases under section 7 must consider the intent of the writer in assessing published material. (emphasis added)
The problem is that they're defending him on grounds that Styen himself (and Ezra Levant before him) resoundingly and rightly reject. Author's intent doesn't matter at all: the government simply has no business regulating what its citizens may read, or what its citizens may write. Period.
When the Albertians asked Levant about his intent in his hearing, he replied that he had made his intent clear in other forums, but that for the purposes of that hearing, he wanted the Commissioner to assume the basest, most foul, most offensive motives she could allow her blinkered mind to imagine.
If only the CAJ had those, er, guts, Steyn and Levant wouldn't have had their problems to begin with.
UPDATE: Added Links