Western Standard - March 25, 2024


Online Harms Act Threatens Free Expression In Canada


Episode Stats

Length

1 minute

Words per Minute

150.46118

Word Count

261

Sentence Count

1


Summary

In this episode, we talk about the Canadian Human Rights Act, Bill C-51, which was passed by the Canadian government in 2017. Bill gives the powers to the Canadian human rights commission to prosecute people over non-criminal hate speech, and also adds a new provision in the criminal code allowing for the punishment of hate speech based on fear that someone might commit a hate speech crime.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 it uh brings back the um powers to the canadian human rights commission to prosecute people over
00:00:09.040 non-criminal hate speech and hate is subjective it's defined subjectively by uh you know whatever
00:00:18.000 whatever bureaucrats in charge of the prosecution and uh it also adds a new section to the criminal
00:00:24.480 code of canada whereby a person uh can be ordered to wear an ankle bracelet and observe a curfew and
00:00:33.280 live under house arrest uh give up their legally owned legally acquired firearms etc based on
00:00:42.480 somebody saying that they fear that that person is going to uh commit a hate speech crime and then
00:00:50.960 you would be hauled before a provincial court judge and if the judge believes that there's
00:00:56.400 reasonable grounds for that fear again we're talking about not something you're doing but a
00:01:00.720 speech crime that you have not even committed but that you might commit and if the judge feels that
00:01:06.640 you might commit uh violate the criminal code hate speech provisions uh all of those restrictions
00:01:14.400 being put under house arrest etc can be placed on a person and if the person doesn't agree with
00:01:20.400 those conditions and abide by them uh that person can face up to two years in jail so this is very
00:01:26.480 orwellian to uh to have a new provision in the criminal code where you can be punished
00:01:31.680 uh for a crime that you might commit in future you can become a western standard member for just
00:01:36.800 ten dollars a month or ninety nine dollars a year for unlimited access