Hate speech provision wiped from Rights Act

O T TAWA • A contentious section of Canadian human rights law, long criticized by free speech advocates as overly restrictive and tantamount to censorship, is gone for good.

A private member’s bill repealing Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, the “hate speech provision,” passed the Senate this week.

This means the part of Canadian human rights law that permitted rights complaints to the federal Human Rights Commission for “the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet” will soon be history.

Human rights lawyers and groups such as the Canadian Bar Association say Section 13 is an important tool in helping to curb hate speech, and removing it would lead to the proliferation of such speech on the Internet.

But critics argued it enabled censorship on the Internet and are calling its repeal a victory for free speech.

“We’re pleased with the repeal,” said Cara Zwibel, director of the fundamental freedoms program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who testified before a Senate committee on the topic.

Section 13 had “some serious problems from a freedom of expression perspective.” She added there is little evidence marginalized groups were using the statute to curb discrimination, noting most of the tribunal cases “were brought by a single individual.”

That person is Ottawa-based human rights lawyer Richard Warman, who has brought 16 successful Section 13 complaints against neo-Nazis and white supremacists since 2001.

He said Section 13 had helped sideline neo-Nazis from the Internet because of its power to obtain cease and desist orders from Canada’s human rights tribunal and enforce them through the courts.