Search results
Feb 29, 2024 · So when Parliament finally officially repealed Section 13 in 2014, a year or so after the Whatcott decision, it was only really putting it to bed. For a dead law, Section 13 still had remarkable ...
- Joseph Brean
Jun 18, 2019 · Conservative MPs on the committee, however, issued a dissent. “The repealed section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act or any modification of the same should not be re-introduced,” they said ...
In November 2008, Moon released his report in which he recommended that section 13 should be repealed so that online hate speech is a purely criminal matter. Moon wrote that "The use of censorship by the government should be confined to a narrow category of extreme expression -- that which threatens, advocates or justifies violence against the members of an identifiable group."
Jun 19, 2012 · Instead, Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act slipped quietly beneath the waves last week during a night-time sitting of the House of Commons—victim of a private member’s bill and a ...
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Freedom of Expression and The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- 3 Criminal Code Provisions Targeting Hate
- 4 Anti‑Hate Provisions in Human Rights Legislation
- 5 The Constitutionality of Anti‑Hate Provisions
- 6 The Debate Regarding Anti‑Hate Provisions in Human Rights Legislation
- 7 Conclusion
- Notes
Although Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights1 proclaims that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, many countries have laws that censor or limit certain types of expression, including speech that incites violence and hatred. Some free speech advocates prefer an open marketplace of ideas, whe...
With the inclusion of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution Act, 1982, certain human rights and fundamental freedoms have an enhanced legal status. All laws in Canada must comply with the Charter and are interpreted by Canadian courts in a manner that is consistent with the supremacy of the Constitution.17 The freedoms of ...
3.1 Hate Propaganda
Hate propaganda provisions were first added to the Criminal Code in 197024 in response to the recommendation of the Special Committee on Hate Propaganda in Canada that a law be established to prohibit advocating genocide and inciting hatred of particular groups, where these activities are likely to occasion breach of the peace.25 This special parliamentary committee, known as the “Cohen Committee,” after its chairperson, Maxwell Cohen, was created following a series of events in the 1960s, wh...
3.2 The Glorification of Terrorism
In 2015, with the passage of Bill C‑51 (Anti‑terrorism Act, 2015), a section was added to the Criminal Code to create a new offence of advocating or promoting the commission of terrorism offences, otherwise referred to as the glorification of terrorism.37While distinct from the Code’s hate propaganda provisions, the new offence uses similar language regarding wilful or reckless communications that seek to inspire certain negative behaviour in others. New section 83.221 of the Criminal Codepro...
3.3 Crimes Motivated by Hatred
Another key provision in the Criminal Codethat addresses crimes motivated by hatred is found in section 718.2(a)(i), which sets out various principles of sentencing. The section allows for increased penalties when an offender is sentenced for any criminal offence if there is In other words, judges have the ability to impose higher sentences where a crime was motivated by hatred. Statistics Canada collects information concerning police‑reported criminal incidents that were confirmed or strongl...
4.1 Canadian Human Rights Laws, Discrimination and Hate Speech
Human rights laws, with their broad goal of eliminating discrimination against identifiable groups, can serve to address expressions of hatred and contempt and any expression that displays an intention to discriminate or to incite others to discriminate. Whether these laws should include prohibitions on hate speech and hate propaganda has been a matter of debate for some time, and Canadian jurisdictions have responded with different approaches in their laws. As “human rights” are not listed u...
4.2 Former Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act
Until it was repealed in 2013, section 13 of the CHRAaddressed the promotion of hatred, and some of the key cases examining anti‑hate legislation in Canada pertained to constitutional challenges of that section. The debates concerning whether to retain, reform or repeal section 13 revealed the challenges inherent in striking a balance between free speech and the protection of vulnerable groups. Former section 13 of the CHRAdid not specifically prohibit hate messages; rather, it made it a disc...
Canadian courts and human rights tribunals have examined the constitutionality of the hate propaganda provisions in the Criminal Code, of former section 13 of the CHRA, and of the anti‑hate provisions found in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. The Supreme Court of Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) have held that although these ...
Over recent decades, Canadian courts have developed an analytical framework for determining what expression should be considered hate propaganda and therefore receive criminal sanction or be dealt with by a human rights commission and/or tribunal. While the Supreme Court has supported the constitutionality of both the criminal and human rights legi...
Hate speech and hate crimes have become an increasing concern in recent years, highlighted by Statistics Canada data and the regular stream of items in the media focused on the rise in many countries of activist groups that adopt messages of hate against ethnic groups, religions and immigrants. These facts suggest that hatred continues to be an act...
* This publication contains some material from Julian Walker, Canadian Anti‑hate Laws and Freedom of Expression, Publication no. 2010‑31, Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament, Ottawa, 27 March 2013. [ Return to text] † Library of Parliament Background Papers provide in-depth studies of policy issues. They feature hi...
Jan 22, 2018 · Liberal MP Keith Martin had tabled a bill to repeal Section 13 in 2008, but it stalled and then died on an election call. The law had been enormously contentious, with critics of all political ...
People also ask
Should section 13 be repealed?
What happens if a complaint is filed under Section 13?
Was Section 13 really a dead law?
What happened to Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act?
What happened to Section 13?
Is Section 13 reborn?
are proliferating online.5 Section 13 of the CHRA should be reinstated, albeit with some modifications. This is justified in light of Canada’s ongoing international human rights obligations, as currently understood, and the jurisprudence that has developed since its repeal. 3 RSC 1985, c H-6 (the “CHRA”).
