Check It Out: Worst assault on freedom of expression in Canadian history

By Joan Janzen

How do you know China has free speech? Because no one says otherwise. And how do you know Canada has free speech? Well, if Bill C-63 becomes law, “no one will say otherwise”.

The Bill had its first reading at the House of Commons on February 26, 2024. Bill C-63 is defined as “An Act to enable the Online Harms Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and an act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.”

Candace Malcolm noted the Bill addresses protecting children from sexual exploitation and predators, which everyone would agree upon. And if you listen to mainstream media, that is the primary portion of the Bill they talk about. However, the remaining two areas the Bill covers are alarming.

First of all, it aims to reduce exposure to harmful content online. Secondly, it aims to better address and denounce hate propaganda and provide recourse to victims of hate. While it sounds OK on paper, the real-life scenario is quite different.

Malcolm reported that the left-wing Canadian Liberties Association urged substantial amendments to the Bill. The Association noted that a troubling aspect of the Bill is the vast authority given to a newly established body of government appointees who will interpret the law, make up new rules, enforce them, and then serve as judge, jury, and executioner. The Association continued to say that granting sweeping powers to one body undermines the fundamental principle of democratic accountability, and the Bill censors a range of expression, including journalist reporting.

Malcolm also said Michael Geist, the former head of the CRTC and a law professor, noted the whole point of the Bill is about restricting expression. John Carpay agreed with his opinion while being interviewed on Justice Centre Weekly. John described the Bill as “the worst assault on freedom of expression ever in Canadian history.”

He said the Bill provides unnecessary duplication. “We don’t fix a problem by passing new laws that are additional laws that duplicate existing laws,” he said. He exposed the camouflage of good intentions, which talks about protecting children from sexual exploitation, which is already prohibited by the criminal code of Canada.

So, what is wrong with this Bill? An article by Anthony Murdoch for LifesiteNews addressed the topic. Marty Moore, a constitutional lawyer, said the most shocking part of the proposed Bill is that it could allow provincial courts to impose house arrest on Canadians over a “fear” that they may commit a “hate crime” in the future.

The addition of section 810.012 to the Criminal Code would allow a person to assert to a provincial court that they “fear” someone will promote genocide and that the provincial court is empowered to jail a person for one year if they refuse to agree to court-imposed conditions. The court-imposed conditions could include wearing an ankle monitor, having a curfew or not communicating with certain people.

This Bill would allow anyone to file a complaint against another person with the Canadian Human Rights Commission for “posting hate speech online”, and they could withhold their identity from the accused.

Canadians would need to defend themselves against an anonymous accuser. Moore continued to explain the new Bill would allow a new “Digital Safety Commission” to conduct secret hearings against those accused of violating the new law. The Bill’s text notes Canadians could face life imprisonment for certain “hate crimes” and fines up to $70,000 for online posts which are considered as “hate speech.”

John Carpay reasoned that crimes such as murder and shoplifting can be easily defined; however, the court needed 4000 words to define hate. “Hatred is an emotion, and you don’t know if someone thinks something is hateful while someone else would not think the same words were hateful,” he reasoned.

“The Bill sounds good on paper, but you’re going to see a massive and chilling impact on free speech. This is a full-on assault on free expression, the worst in Canadian history.

Do you want the government to have the power to declare what is criminal speech and then face up to a lifetime in prison for saying something they consider hate speech? You can easily realize the implementation of this Bill would promote all kinds of anonymous complaints causing Canadians to become frozen with fear and “no one saying otherwise.” Please send an urgent message to Canadian legislators urging them to stop Trudeau’s ‘Online Harms Act’ before it causes irreparable harm.