Bell feared ad would breach racism laws

Bell Media is concerned it would violate laws against spreading racist messages of hate were it to run a television advertisement for Faith Goldy, a controversial far-right fringe candidate for mayor of Toronto.

The regulations that govern broadcasters in Canada prohibit content that is false or misleading, or which “tends to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race,” according to legal documents filed late Friday with the Ontario Superior Court in response to a lawsuit Goldy filed earlier this week.

Bell argues those rules do not give Goldy “an unqualified right to have her advertising broadcast.”

The company is defending its decision to refund Goldy’s money and refuse to run her ad on its news channel, CP24.

It describes Goldy as a “fringe candidate in the Toronto Mayoral election” who has polled at a little over 1 per cent.

A hearing Monday will consider whether Ontario Superior Court can even hear Goldy’s complaint that the broadcaster violated her constitutional right to freely express herself as a registered candidate for mayor in the city’s Oct. 22 election.

“This case is not merely a case about breach of contract. It is about how a democracy functions,” said Clayton Ruby, a prominent civil rights lawyer who is acting for Goldy.

Bell’s legal filing cites sources including the magazine GQ, which called Goldy “one of Canada’s most prominent propagandists of the ‘white genocide’ conspiracy theory, a foundational conceit of modern white supremacists.”

It cites the Winnipeg Free Press calling her a “white nationalist,” and quotes her saying that humans, like birds, tend naturally to “go with their own,” and when they do not, they are preyed upon, as in modern Europe.

Bell notes that Goldy, who has built a following online by promoting anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic sentiment, has been removed from Patreon, a crowdfunding website, and PayPal, which processes payments, for violating their hate speech policies.

It also says that once word spread in late September that CP24 was going to air Goldy’s ads, NDP MP Charlie Angus was among several people whose complaints led Bell to conclude CP24 “would suffer commercial harm from its viewers if it ran the ads.”

Bell also claims Goldy’s request for an emergency injunction forcing Bell to take her money and run her ads should be dismissed because it is in the wrong court.

There is an expert tribunal in place to interpret and enforce Canada’s broadcasting regulations, taking into the account policy goals set by Parliament. It would have to balance Goldy’s complaint against “the need for a broadcasting system that reflects the ‘multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian society’ and provides for programming of a ‘high standard,’ ” Bell’s materials say.

It will have to also take into account Bell’s own freedom of expression and “programming independence.”

Bell makes the point that Ruby, Goldy’s “experienced counsel,” ought to have known this jurisdictional problem, so her delay in filing should not be the basis to go against precedent and allow the case to proceed.

The urgency that Goldy claims as a reason for Ontario Superior Court to intervene is “entirely of her own making,” Bell claims.

“Despite being advised that Bell did not wish to do business with her more than two weeks ago, (Goldy) elected to bring this application only on Tuesday of this week, in the wrong forum,” Bell claims. “Until yesterday, (she) took no steps to even ask the CRTC if it would hear and resolve this dispute before the election. Through her inaction and choice of litigation strategy she cannot confer jurisdiction on the Ontario Superior Court that should be properly exercised by the CRTC.”

If Goldy wants to enforce CRTC rules against Bell, “she should be seeking a mandatory order from the CRTC,” Bell’s materials say. “The law is clear that provincial Superior Courts do not have the jurisdiction and should not interpret and apply the CRTC regulations. That is a matter for the CRTC, an expert tribunal constituted by Parliament and subject to appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal.”

Bell even makes an election prediction: “It is not as though an inability to obtain the relief sought (ads on CP24) can or will have any realistic impact on the outcome of the election. She is currently polling at 1.6% with only a few days before the election.”