In a modern, free, and democratic society, I would say there are two big debates about freedom taking place. There has been, since Sept. 11, 2001, the push and pull between protecting national security and maintaining personal freedoms. It’s a debate, a battle even, taking place around the world. But particularly here in Canada, another debate — over freedom of speech versus respect for individual human rights — is also centre stage. This second one, over s. 13, the hate speech provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act, continues boiling over even as I sit to write this editorial.
Free-speech proponents abhor the section saying it can be used and abused by groups who essentially claim their feelings have been hurt through some type of communication, but with no real proof of any intent or harm. Essentially it is an unjustifiable limit on the Charter of Rights guarantee of free speech, they claim. On the other side, human rights campaigners say the section offers some protection for minorities against hate-mongers, necessary particularly in a multicultural society such as Canada.
That’s the basic premise of our cover story “War of words.” It’s also the same argument going back and forth at a government committee hearing into Ontario’s new Human Rights Tribunal (and on blogs covering and commentating on it). At the same time, it has come up once again on Parliament Hill with Brian Storseth, a Conservative MP, asking the Commons justice committee on Feb. 9 to review s. 13.
Nothing is likely to happen with it anytime soon though. The federal government has many more pressing issues on its plate at the moment even though the Conservative party voted at its convention last November to repeal s. 13. And Prime Minister Harper just a couple of months ago told Maclean’s: “The government has no plans to do so.” Many who support getting rid of that section would like to see the whole system of human rights commissions and tribunals dismantled, and those calls would get even louder and the debate more combustible if the government were to start messing with s. 13.
There is no doubt that Canada’s system of human rights tribunals and commissions needs an overhaul. Whether that includes removing s. 13 from the Human Rights Code and relying solely on the Criminal Code to prosecute hate crimes remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though, Canadians’ right to free speech is surely being exercised to its fullest in the endless debate over free speech.
