Bill C-304 History

Brian Storseth introduced his Private Member’s Bill C-304 to repeal Section 13 (and its resultant penalty clause in Section 54) of the Canadian Human Rights Act on September 30, 2011.

On June 6, 2012 Parliament Repealed Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.  Since that day Bill C-304 stagnates in the Canadian Senate, where even so-called “conservative” senators spoke against the bill during its 1st and 2nd readings.

A full year later, Third Reading of Bill C-304 is still not scheduled to take place…

But if Section 13 will eventually be repealed by our government... why is Marc Lemire challenging the law on Constitutional grounds?

There are many reasons. Let me explain each of them.

1. If Marc Lemire simply accepts the Federal Court ruling of Justice Richard Mosley then Lemire faces a lifetime Free Speech Ban for the “crime” of posting a document that contains the very same information and statistics the Canadian Blood Services used to ban homosexual men from giving blood.

2. Even if Section 13 is repealed by the Senate it makes no difference to Marc Lemire’s case, nor to the cases of hundreds of other Canadians already charged and convicted under this oppressive law. As absurd as it sounds, Marc Lemire could face a lifetime ban on his Right to Freedom of Speech under a law that no longer exists.Should he refuse to abide by the lifetime Free Speech ban he could go to prison.

The maximum penalty for contempt of a Tribunal decision is 5 years in prison. The maximum penalty for a conviction of criminal “hate speech” under Section 319 of the Criminal Code: Two years.

In the entire history of the Canadian Human Rights Commission not a single person has ever been sent to prison for violating an Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling…

Except for those convicted of “thought crimes” under Section 13…

If Marc Lemire wants to retain his Right to Freedom of Speech and let me assure you, he does, then he has no choice but to challenge both the Constitutionality of Section 13 as well as appeal Justice Mosley’s horribly flawed and biased Federal Court decision.

3. It is critical for Freedom of Speech that Section 13 be denounced as an affront to our Charter Right to Freedom of Speech and that the Federal Court of Appeals strikes it down as unconstitutional. Why? It will mean the hundreds of cases prosecuted under this law over the past 33 years were unconstitutional prosecutions.  More importantly, it will mean the penalties imposed by those unconstitutional convictions are also unconstitutional.

4. If Section 13 is declared unconstitutional, as any unbiased judge must clearly see, then those people suffering under lifetime Freedom of Speech bans could appeal to the court to have those bans removed.  If the law is simply repealed (removed from the books) then there is no avenue in Canadian law for those individuals to regain their Right to Freedom of Speech.

5. There are multiple cases currently “on hold” because of Marc Lemire’s case, his Constitutional Challenge of Section 13 and his Federal Court Appeal of Justice Mosley’s decision.

These cases are at both the Tribunal and Federal Court level.

All of the cases currently “on hold” will move forward the second there is a final decision in Lemire’s case.

6. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the body that said itself that Section 13 was unconstitutional, stopped all Section 13 cases pending the outcome of Marc Lemire’s case.

“… I have also concluded that Section 13(1) in conjunction with Sections 54(1) and (1.1) are inconsistent with Section 2(b) of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms], which guarantees the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.  The restriction imposed by these provisions is not a reasonable limit within the meaning of Section 1 of the Charter.”
-- Athanasios D. Hadjis’ Decision in Warman v. Lemire

7. Repeal of the law does not address all corruption and the inappropriate administration of Section 13.  We need a court to examine the spying, lying and conniving of the CHRC and rule that they were out of control in both Marc Lemire’s case and in many other cases.

8. The Senate of Canada still has not repealed Section 13 even though Bill C-304 has been in their hands for almost a year.

They may never pass Bill C-304 into law so we must continue the fight for Freedom of Speech in the courts.

The stated aims of the Canadian Human Rights Act are remedial, not punitive.  The object of the Act is to “correct discriminatory behaviour” not punish.

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• Is it “remedial” to refuse any and all attempts at mediation?Is it “remedial” to refuse any and all attempts at mediation?
• Is it “remedial” to refuse to communicate with the subject of a Human Rights Act complaint?
• Is it “remedial” to continue prosecuting a man 8 years after all “offending” documents were removed from the Internet?

[/unordered_list]

No, it is not.

If you despise government bodies telling you what you can and cannot say on the Internet…

If you despise law written for telephone answering machines being applied to all of your internet  communications on any internet platform…

If you believe Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act violates your Constitutional Right to    Freedom of Speech…

Then please contribute generously to Marc Lemire’s Free Speech Legal Defense Fund so he can continue his appeal and Constitutional Challenge of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Mail your generous donation in Defense of Freedom of Speech, payable to:

Marc Lemire
Attn: Free Speech Legal Defense Fund
762 Upper James St., Suite 384
Hamilton, Ontario  L9C 3A2

Or you can donate online by visiting:
http://StopSection13.com/support.html

Thank you for your generous support in Defense of Freedom of Speech