The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission - Term Paper Example

A case that was brought forward recently in the Supreme Court of Canada which involved four complaints which were all lodged against Whatcott to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission regarding the flyers which he distributed containing hate speech against gays. The papers were titled as, ‘Keep Homosexuality out of Saskatoon’s Public School’, ‘Sodomites in our Public schools’. Whereas the rest of the two articles were a duplicate of the previous two which contained further handwritten comments. The tribunal concluded that the flyers were considered as spreading hate and ridiculing the homosexuals, this decision was based on the isolation of specific content from each of the flyers that were distributed. The tribunal then charged Mr.Whattcott and the Christian truth activists for distribution of the flyers and also because this promoted hatred against homosexuals. It was also decided that Mr. Whatcott will pay $2,500 to one of the complainant and $5,000 to the rest of the three (Canlii.org). However, when the case was appealed again, it was over turned in the year 2010 because it was decided that most of the contents of the flyers were within the constitution and that although it did break the laws of free speech and religion, but it was within the limits of the constitution. According to the court, the two anti-gay flyers were actually a representation of the hate speech and hence it reestablished the Saskatcewan’s tribunal finding and the fines that were decided by the court previously. However, the court decided that the other two flyers did not contain any expressions or speech that could expose or hurt the homosexuals (CBC News Canada). This case serves as one of the few examples that help differentiate between the thin line that exists between freedom of speech and hate crime. The decision made by the Supreme Court was actually justified and correct as the act lies in accordance with Canada’s hate crime law. Talking about the hate crime, According to the criminal code of Canada, hate crime is any act that inflicts harm, terror or threatens a group of people who practice a certain religion or follow certain beliefs or customs. Hate crime law is generally used when the victims are subjected to violence because of who they are and this may include any acts of physical or mental harassment or the application of physical force or threat to that specific group of people, an individual or even a property (CBC News Canada). The section 14(1)b of Saskatchewan human rights code also states that no one is allowed to publish or even display any subject or object that discloses or tried to disclose hatred, or tried to ridicule, detract, criticize or in-dignify a person or a group of people based on prohibited grounds (Bowal and McKay). Canada does not have defined set of rules for freedom of speech, in 1948, UN adopted the declaration of Human rights according to which, and every person has the right to express his opinion without being interfered. However, freedom of speech is preserved under the Canadian charter of rights but this law is not yet arbitrary and the freedom of speech is hence limited when it remains under the laws prescribed by the government and is justifiable by the independent and democratic society (CBC News Canada). This shows that the hate crimes laws are stronger and prevalent in Canada as compared to the freedom of speech laws and hence are implemented more. The cases such as those of Whattcott often question the existence of such laws and whether the implementation of such laws is justifiable or not. There are also various other sections in the constitution of Canada such as section 318, 319 that prohibits the promotion or even instilling hatred among people through various means such as through broadcasting through audio visual mediums but section 319 also offers protection to such people if what they are saying is actually true and based upon facts. According to the section 13 of the Canadian Human rights acts it is considered discrimination of an individual if someone tries to send messages of hatred though various means of communication such as internet (CBC News Canada). The decision made by the supreme court of Canada was a well formulated decision and hence helped to solve a number of issues regarding the explanation and legitimacy of the human rights code. This decision however, affects the freedom of speech which concerns sensitive subjects such as those of religion and homosexuals etc. The reason behind the decision taken by the court backs up the fact that if a certain group of people are subject to hate speech or hate crimes then they will be prohibited from taking part in regular societal activities. Bill Whattcott criticized a certain group of people and considered them as little or less worthy in certain aspects of practices. The court made its decisions based on a line by line analysis and then decided whether it actually did affect the homosexuals (The Globe and Mail). Hate crimes are created by the government when the state thinks that the crimes or hateful speeches are serious enough to cause problems in the future. In such cases, the state of mind also plays a big role such as, while committing a crime, the person’s state of mind also matters as the thought of a person is enough to make him commit a crime that may have a bad effect on that particular group of people. Such hate crimes have a serious impact on the society and lies farther than the crime that was committed. Punishments of such hate crimes always sends a message to those who are engaged in such behavior and that although hating someone in private is not as much a bad thing as acting upon that thought and converting those though into actions (Matconis). According to FBI’s report, the rate of hate crime committed against bisexuals, lesbians, gays and trans genders rose to 1265 in 2007 which is considered as the peak level in the past five years. These groups of people are considered as the most targeted group of individuals during the past years. The reason behind the increased rate of hate crime against such individuals is due to the rise in fear and uncertainty within the bisexuals themselves and these hate crimes will not end until they are addressed to and brought under the scrutiny of law (The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights). There have been a variety of reasons as to why people indulge in such hate crimes; some are those who have in committing such crimes and such people rarely stop until imprisoned, then there are those who think that they are defending their society from such people, there are also people who think that it is their mission to go up against a certain group of people (Nobullying.com). It is people like them, who need to be stopped before they commit crimes that lead to dire consequences and ultimately affect that specific group of people. Putting such people to justice will help reduce the concept of homophobia that prevails among the members of certain society, the suppression of hate crime eventually lead to peace and harmony in the society. The people who are protected by legislations under the hate crime act are given special protection and hence any act against them is considered as being offensive. Same is the case in Whattcotts’s case where his flyers were considered to hurt the feeling of the homosexuals and he was penalized for carrying out hate crime. And when compared to the freedom of speech, it can be said that the freedom of speech eventually hurts the feelings of those it is subjected towards and this can result in a hate crime and hence it is rightly said that there exists a very thin line between freedom of speech and hate crime which can only be differentiated based on the findings of the case at hand. Works Cited Canlii.org,. Canlii - 2013 SCC 11 (Canlii). N.p., 2013. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from CBC News Canada,. When Is It Hate Speech?: 7 Significant Canadian Cases. 2011. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/when-is-it-hate-speech-7-significant-canadian-cases-1.1036731 Bowal, Peter, and Colin McKay. The Whatcott Case: Balancing Free Speech And Social Harmony - Lawnow Magazine. LawNow Magazine. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.lawnow.org/whatcott-case-balancing-free-speech-social-harmony/ The Globe and Mail,. Whatcott Ruling Is A Very Real Burden On Some Speech. N.p., 2013. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/whatcott-ruling-is-a-very-real-burden-on-some-speech/article9133370/ Matconis, Doug. Hate Crimes, Freedom Of Speech, And Equal Protection Of The Law. Outsidethebeltway.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/on-hate-crimes-freedom-of-speech-and-equal-protection-of-the-laws/ The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,. Hate Crimes Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Individuals - Confronting The New Faces Of Hate. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from Nobullying.com,. The Truth Behind Hate Crimes Against Gays|Nobullying|. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 June 2015. Retrieved from Read More