How Trump gets away with it
On Monday, Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Despite universal outrage, the presidential candidate has doubled down on his vow. The National Post’s Kathleen Saylors asks whether his comments would constitute hate speech in Canada.
QWhy is Trump allowed to make comments like these? They’re in bad taste at best and hateful at worst.
AThe short answer is because it’s the United States. The U.S. has strong protections for free speech, which is only considered hateful if it will incite direct and immediate violence. Trump pontificating at a podium or in an interview doesn’t qualify. Until he starts an angry mob, he’s free to say whatever he likes.
QSo for argument’s sake, what if this were happening in Canada? Would anything be different?
ATrump’s most recent comments might offend you, but they still couldn’t be prosecuted under Canadian law. Though hate speech laws in Canada are broader than they are south of the border, speech needs to meet some very specific requirements to be considered hateful here, too. Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code states that hate speech “incites hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace” and where the comments are made in a public place. “(T) he immediacy of the breach of the peace would make it extremely difficult to convict someone for saying what Trump said,” said Faisal Kutty, a Toronto lawyer and human rights activist.
Trump also isn’t making any outright claims despite the subtext of his statements, said Richard Moon, a law professor at the University of Windsor. “It doesn’t have any real hateful content in the sense of making a claim about the character of Muslims,” said Moon. “Of course, why should they be excluded other than, presumably, on the belief that they are somehow dangerous? ”
QWhat about some of his other comments? He’s said a lot more extreme things in the past.
ASome of his previous remarks could more easily be prosecuted, like his remarks about Mexican immigrants during his announcement speech on June 16: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” “That is the very stuff of hate speech, and a claim like that made in Canada might well constitute hate speech,” Moon said.