The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has been granted leave to intervene in Warman v. Lemire, a case regarding the constitutionality of the hate speech provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act. In a ruling released in September 2009, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that although one of the articles Mr. Lemire had posted on his website did contravene the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Act’s hate speech provisions were unconstitutional. The Tribunal refused to apply the provisions. That decision is now being judicially reviewed in the Federal Court.
The CCLA will be intervening to support the Tribunal’s ruling and the recognition of the chilling, self-censoring effect these laws can have on individuals. The CCLA has long advocated that this law is a vague and unjustifiable restriction on freedom of expression that should be struck down. This is not to say that hate speech is acceptable. Criminal Code prohibitions should remain to deal with those who willfully promote hatred leading to imminent violence. More generally, Canadian society should be extremely concerned about prejudiced or discriminatory statements. Individuals and organizations should speak out loudly against such comments – among friends, in our communities, in print media and online. Those individuals who express hateful opinions should be called out and criticized. The answer to hateful or offensive speech should be more speech, not censorship.
