Whatcott: Canadian Hate Speech Laws Live To Fight Another Day

The Supreme Court of Canada released its much-anticipated decision in Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v Whatcott today (they are all "much-anticipated" but this decision was on reserve for 16 months, a long time for the Supreme Court). The Court, in a unanimous 6-0 decision, held that the hate speech prohibition in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code was largely constitutional. We acted for an intervener on the appeal.

The facts of the case are notorious. William Whatcott distributed flyers in Regina and Saskatoon that condemned homosexuality using very strong (and, as the Court ultimately found, hateful) language. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal found that that Whatcott's actions were a breach of section 14(1)(b) of the Code, which prohibits the publication of printed matter that "exposes or tends to expose to hatred, ridicules, belittles or otherwise affronts the dignity of any person or class of persons" because of sexual orientation.