Tamara Lich says it is time to disband the human rights commissions in Western Canada. Lise Merle put the question to her on Wednesday's Buffalo Roundtable after the hosts played a clip of John Carpay of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

In the clip, Carpay said nobody should be prosecuted by a government body for expressing an opinion, yet all four western provinces have laws that allow exactly that. He pointed to Barry Neufeld, the former Chilliwack school trustee the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ordered to pay $750,000 in costs to the Chilliwack Teachers' Association, and to Benita Pedersen of Westlock, Alta., who faces a human rights hearing over a flyer opposing a rainbow crosswalk.

Carpay said the Justice Centre is paying for Pedersen's legal defence and that her hearing wraps up in December.

The tribunal found in February that some of Neufeld's statements about trans people amounted to hate speech. His lawyer has said he will seek a judicial review.

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Carpay traced Alberta's speech cases to section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, which he said authorizes citizens to be prosecuted for expressing their opinions. He also named Red Deer youth pastor Stephen Boissoin, who he said was prosecuted over a letter to the Red Deer Advocate.

Lise asked Tamara whether the time has come to disband the commissions. "Yes, 100%," she said. "Canada is crossing into a slippery slope where we don't follow the rule of law anymore. We follow the rule of feelings. We need to protect our freedom of speech."

"Canadians need to be free to speak their mind and express their opinions without fear that somebody who woke up and just wanted to be offended about something today decides to go after them," Tamara said.

Lise called the complaints an obvious tactic by left-wing activists to nip dissent in the bud. The commissions operate at arm's length from the justice system, she said. "We have this parallel universe where if they don't get you one way, they can get you the other way."

Tamara said B.C.'s new Conservative government under premier-designate Lorne Doerkson now gets to revisit the issue, and that Alberta and Saskatchewan should follow. "I think we need a very serious review of these types of organizations," she said, to see how they could be made fairer and less reliant on hurt feelings.

The Buffalo Roundtable airs Wednesdays at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.