On December 3, 2009 the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta released its ruling in the judicial review of Boissoin v. Lund. The decision overturned an Alberta Human Rights Commission Panel’s ruling that Mr. Boissoin had contravened Alberta’s hate speech prohibition. Mr. Boissoin, wrote an opinion piece which was strongly critical of those in the gay rights movement. The letter was published by the Red Deer Advocate – the largest daily newspaper in central Alberta.
CCLA, which intervened at both the Commission Panel and before the Queen’s Bench, argued that a broad interpretation of the provincial hate speech laws was an unjustifiable infringement on freedom of expression. CCLA urged both the Panel and the Court to either find the law unconstitutional, or to read the Act more narrowly and require a direct connection between the hateful speech and unlawful discrimination. The Court explicitly adopted this argument, ruling that the prohibition only applied to hateful expression that itself signals an intention to engage in discriminatory behaviour, or seeks to persuade another person to do so in a way that is likely to bring about prohibited discrimination.
CCLA believes that this interpretation strikes an appropriate balance between freedom of expression and protecting minorities from discrimination.
To read the Court of Queen’s Bench’s judgment click here.
To read CCLA’s factum before the Court of Queen’s Bench click here.
