— Feature, Musings —03.17.2019 04:04 PM
One way Canada can fight hate, right away
Talk is cheap.
If the Trudeau government is serious about stopping the spread of hate, here’s something they can do this week.
Will they? (Oh, and one Minister was looking at ways to bring back a version of section 13. Guess who she was?)
The federal government’s words about combatting hate are fine. But they need to match words and action. So: bring back section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act now. It was a #LPC MP who championed its repeal under a #CPC government. So, fix it. https://t.co/cqKM1A5DM5 #cdnpoli
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) March 17, 2019
Can they get out of tone-deaf mode and also ignore the persona of the messenger? Only they truly know the answer.
WK, you’re an expert in this field – can you please give us a quick compare/contrast between s. 13 of the CHRA and ss. 318, 319, 320 and 320.1 of the CCC? Is it just a matter of evidentiary burden / standard? (i.e. beyond a reasonable doubt vs balance of probabilities?)
In nutshell, yes. Along with not being a criminal sanction – and therefore preferable, for sensible free-speechers – section 13 only concerned the Internet and telephonic messages.
Oh, it went beyond that, I think. I’m no free speech warrior and I salute you and Lisa for the fight against Ward News, but there were big problems with S. 13, including a whiff of institutional corruption in the CHRC. I’d like to see something beyond criminal sanctions, but is hate speech really a low-level administrative problem, especially in the age of Twitter mobs?