Are you aware of what is hidden within Bill C63?
What is hidden behind protecting the children and bolstering the rights of Canadians to express their thoughts and opinions, will make your hair curl.
The problem with this bill is that this bill does so many different things. I think that it’s worth doing a deeper look into the real specifics and explain the problems with changes to the Canada Human Rights Act and the new civil remedy for hate speech.
A little background into this Bill C63.
This Civil remedy was previously section 13 of the Canada human rights act and it was killed in 2014 by the Harper Government after being badly abused. In 2021 the Trudeau government resurrected this civil remedy as Bill c36, but it was killed again when the election was called and now it’s back for a third time as part of Bill C63 and it is as dangerous to freedom of speech and freedom of the press as ever.
What will happen if this Bill C63 gets passed.
The real goal is to allow judges to sentence adults to prison for life for things they have said and for up to a year for crimes they haven’t committed but that the government fears they might commit in the future.
The Civil remedy for hate speech in section 13 of the Canada Human Rights Act will result in self-censorship, intrude into press freedom and result in frivolous complaints. These frivolous complaints will clog up the already overburdened Human Rights Commission that’s supposed to deal with serious and complex social problems like discrimination in transportation agencies or by government agencies.
Overview
The Online Harms Act would impose severe penalties for online and offline hate speech, including life imprisonment, which is the most severe criminal punishment in Canada.
This Act threatens freedom of expression in Canada.
Canadians’ online expression should not be censored unless it violates the Criminal Code.
No Canadian should face an anonymous human rights complaint for what they have said.
No Canadian should be hauled before a court or punished merely because somebody “fears” they will say something hateful.
No Canadian should face life imprisonment for their expression.
The assault
The new Bill would take everything to a new extreme. This is terrifying as it is an assault on two core enlightenment principles: free speech and equal justice under law.
To enforce it all, the proposed law would create a new Digital Safety Commission with incredible powers to police content. So, it takes the form of a group of government bureaucrats investigating complaints about your speech, prosecuting you at their own little government tribunal and ordering you to pay tens of thousands of dollars.
Alarm bells being raised about Bill C63.
The good news is that many groups are raising serious concerns about the new bill and its impact on free speech and expression. The Globe and Mail called the proposed Bill “fatally flawed” and concluded, “There may be a balance to be struck between toughening sanctions against hate speech while protecting freedom of expression and due process. The Liberals have not found that balance.”
Here are 2 articles that discuss the act in more detail, one from the National Post and the other from the Justice Centre of Constitutional Freedoms:
https://www.jccf.ca/online-harms-act-threatens-free-expression-in-canada/
Already Trudeau has passed the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act, which gave the government expansive new powers to regulate what happens and what you see online.
So, I fervently hope you do your research and fight against this Bill whatever way you can. If you favor free speech, then contest this Online Harms Act. Your future generations will thank you.
Here’s to taking action to protect our future,
Charlene
