Quebec's new Bill 59, now in progress toward passage into law, has been called by the National Post, the gravest threat to freedom of expression in Canada today. It would give new powers to the Quebec Human Rights Commission (QHRC) to combat hate speech, in particular, speech considered Islamophobic, by censoring words that allegedly promote "fear of the other" on the Internet. The bill would allow the QHRC to go after websites that they believe criticize aspects of Islam or Islamism that might be deemed offensive to any individual.
For example, pointdebascule.ca, which exposes, individuals and groups who support terrorism financially or morally, and whose work aids CSIS, could be shut down under this law and its director fined. A journalist who wrote about the culture of honour and shame which causes violence against girls and women, could be sued. Even if what was written was "true" and "in the public interest", which normally protects writers from defamation lawsuits, there would be no defense with Bill 59.
The announcement of this bill has been under the radar for visibility in the media. Even Pen International, the association mandated to support freedom of expression for writers, and recently held its 81st annual Congress in Quebec City, didn't mention it, nor on Pen's Quebec website.
The criminal code already has prohibitions against hate speech and unlike the HRC, a civic body, provides procedural guarantees for those accused – like presumption of innocence. "The law is redundant and open to abuse", said jurist Julius Grey at the public hearing. The Bill would police the blurry line between hate speech and free speech.
Bill 59 is being promoted by Jacques Fremont, president of the QHRC and president elect of the University of Ottawa. He plans to use the new powers to sue "people who would write against…the Islamic religion… on a website or on a Facebook page." There is a striking similarity here with US President Obama's pronouncement in 2012 that "the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."
Terror attacks by Islamists are not the only threat; they plan to infiltrate our institutions. Barbara Kay writes, "That can't happen so long as we exercise our freedom of speech to denounce Islamism …. which is why Islamists invented the myth of Islamophobia in Western countries."
Jewish representatives at the public hearing were against the legislation, believing the best remedy for hate speech is more freedom of expression, not less.
