I, Ashu M. G. Solo, filed the following:

1. Civil rights case against the City of Saskatoon (Mayor's Office) and Councillor Randy Donauer for prayer recitations at government organized events

2. Code of Conduct complaint against Mayor Don Atchison for potential online campaign advertising violations

3. Civil rights case against the City of Saskatoon (Saskatoon Transit Services) for promoting holidays from only one religion on city buses

4. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (Executive Committee) for retaliating against me by not reappointing me to the Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Committee and not appointing me to another civic committee or board

5. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (City Solicitor’s Office) for retaliating against me by trying to deprive me of my right to directly communicate with members of City Council and by telling employees of other City of Saskatoon departments to not talk to me

6. Human rights complaint against the City of Saskatoon (Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Office) and City of Saskatoon (Living in Harmony Ad Hoc Subcommittee of Cultural Diversity and Race Relations Committee) for retaliating against me by not considering my submissions to the Living in Harmony Contest

This site contains my media releases, some case documents, emails to City Council, etc.

I don't waste my time arguing with opponents.

The backlash makes me much more determined to fight against bigotry and shows the need for these civil rights cases, so I'll be filing more civil rights cases. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Don Atchison LIED about me to Metro News


From: Ashu M. G. Solo
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 11:45 AM
To: Morgan Modjeski
Cc: Mayor's Office; Randy Donauer; Glen Penner; Pat Lorje; Ann Iwanchuk; Myles Heidt; Charlie Clark; Mairin Loewen; Glen Penner; Tiffany Paulsen; Bev Dubois; Darren Hill
Subject: Don Atchison LIED about me to Metro News

Hi Morgan,

You wrote a good article about my case for Metro News.  In the article, Don Atchison lied to you about me when he says I’ve done all of my dialog through the media like I’ve never made an attempt to talk to him about this.  I’ve sent Don Atchison about 10 email messages.  Don Atchison is the one who has made his responses through the media.  He has done all of his dialog through the  media.

I’ve sent Don Atchison and Randy Donauer about 10 email messages, which are available to the public at http://atchison-discrimination.blogspot.ca and which have been copied to Saskatoon City Council.  Don Atchison and Randy Donauer haven’t responded to any of my email messages.  My phone number was at the end of my email messages.  Don Atchison and Randy Donauer haven’t bothered phoning me. 

Justin Trottier from the Centre for Inquiry, which is working with me on this case, left phone messages for Don Atchison and Randy Donauer.  Don Atchison and Randy Donauer never called Justin Trottier back too.  Don Atchison and Randy Donauer obviously have no interest in discussing this issue.

I tried speaking to Don Atchison on the phone once when he was a city councillor about the issue of police corruption.  Don Atchison unprofessionally and rudely hung up on me when I tried calling him that time, so now I’m sending him email instead.  Also, I want there to be a record of what was said, so I’m using email instead.

My demands are not something that can be negotiated through dialog with Don Atchison and Randy Donauer.  I’m unwilling to compromise on public prayer recitations being eliminated from official city events because this is an extremely discriminatory and bigoted practice.  A “universal” prayer discriminates against agnostics and atheists.

My first email message to Don Atchison and Randy Donauer was copied to various media outlets because Don Atchison and Randy Donauer needed to be exposed by the media for abusing their government offices to impose their particular religious beliefs on others who don’t share them at taxpayer funded municipal government events.  This is a severe abuse of office that was rightly exposed by media.  Furthermore, I knew there would be much greater pressure on Don Atchison and Randy Donauer to stop imposing their religious beliefs on others at taxpayer funded municipal government events if this story was reported to the public by the media.  If Don Atchison and Randy Donauer had agreed to stop this discriminatory and bigoted practice and had apologized then, the news story would have ended there, but they stubbornly resisted.

When Brent Loucks of News Talk 650 CKOM asked Don Atchison on air on April 24, 2012 whether he’s going to stop having public Christian prayers at municipal government events in response to my complaint, Don Atchison started talking about how this city was founded by a Methodist priest named John Lake (you can hear this starting at 3:30 of http://www.ckom.com/sites/default/files/Mayor_Atchison_Apr24.mp3)  How is this relevant at all, Don Atchison?  How is it relevant to whether there should be public Christian prayers at official city events in 2012 that the city was founded by a Christian priest?  In 2012, Saskatoon is an extremely diverse city with people from numerous religions.  Why would Don Atchison say this unless he’s trying to imply that Saskatoon should be a Christian city today?  Don Atchison is clearly implying that he thinks Saskatoon was founded as a Christian city and therefore should still be a Christian city today.  This is extremely discriminatory and bigoted.  Don Atchison is a religious bigot.  Saskatoon is not a Christian city today.  It is supposed to be and is advertised as a secular multicultural city in a secular multicultural country where all citizens are supposed to be treated equally.  Let’s have what is advertised.

By having public Christian prayers at civic events, Don Atchison and Randy Donauer are sending the message that a citizen can’t be the mayor or a city councillor without being a Christian.  By having public Christian prayers at civic events, Don Atchison and Randy Donauer are sending the message that a citizen is second class if she’s not a Christian.  By having public Christian prayers at civic events, Don Atchison and Randy Donauer are making Saskatchewan look like an archaic city of religious intolerance.  Don Atchison and Randy Donauer need to get with the 21st century.

Best regards,

Ashu M. G. Solo

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