Freedom of Expression Update

A Memo Prepared for the BPC's Freedom of Expression Committee
by R. Franklin Carter, Leader of the Committee's Issues Group

December 2005

Primary Challenges and Issues

The following issues affect Canadian readers, writers, publishers, librarians, booksellers and magazine sellers. The issues affect books, periodicals, newspapers and Internet sites as well.

Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium [Nov. 17, 2005] The Supreme Court of Canada declared that it will review an appeal filed by Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium in Vancouver. The store – which sells books, magazines, and films with homosexual themes – is seeking public money to fund its lawsuit against Canada Customs. The court did not immediately set a date for the hearing. In 2001, Canada Customs seized several adult comic books entitled Meatmen that Little Sister's had ordered from the United States. The border services agency declared that the comic books, which featured male homosexual and sadomasochistic themes, were legally obscene. Little Sister's is ultimately seeking a court decision that would prohibit Canada Customs from seizing similar publications and from imposing financial hardships on the bookstore in the future.

[Sept. 12, 2005] A court in British Columbia convicted Justin French, Little Sister's former bookkeeper, of stealing almost $86,000 from the bookstore. French was convicted on two counts of theft over $5,000 and sentenced to 18 months in jail. French committed his offences between May 2003 and February 2004.

Bishop Jim Njegovan [Oct. 24, 2005] Bishop Jim Njegovan, the Anglican bishop of Brandon, Manitoba, banned the distribution of The Anglican Planet to parishes throughout his diocese, the CBC reported. Njegovan declared that the orthodox monthly newspaper was "sowing the seeds of distrust and disdain within the church, and that the publishers have no respect for those in authority over them." The Anglican Planet, which was launched in 2004, competes against the church's official and more liberal publication, The Anglican Journal.

Juliet O'Neill [Oct. 11, 2005] The Crown lawyer defending the federal attorney general and the RCMP in the Juliet O'Neill affair produced 252 pages of censored documents in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice but withheld key documents for reasons of "national security." On May 27, 2005, Justice Lynn Ratushny ordered the federal attorney general and the RCMP to disclose all documents about their investigation of O'Neill's news story about Maher Arar on Nov. 8, 2003, in the Ottawa Citizen.¹ The Citizen is challenging the constitutionality of the search warrants that the RCMP used to raid O'Neill's home and office on Jan. 21, 2004. O'Neill and the newspaper are also seeking to learn the government's motive for ordering the RCMP raids.

ACTION: The BPC's Freedom of Expression Committee is monitoring events.

Tomasz Winnicki [Oct. 6, 2005] For the first time in Canadian history, a federal court ruled that a white supremacist may not post hateful messages on the Internet, reported The London Free Press. The Federal Court of Canada said that Tomasz Winnicki, a resident of London, Ontario, may not post his anti-black, anti-Indian and anti-Jewish messages on the Internet. The injunction prohibits Winnicki from posting his messages even before they have been found illegal by a human rights commission. The Federal Court of Canada did not release reasons for its ruling.

ACTION: The BPC's Freedom of Expression Committee is monitoring events.

Cheickh Bangoura [Sept. 16, 2005] The Ontario Court of Appeal rejected Cheickh Bangoura's libel suit against The Washington Post. The court declared that "no real and substantial connection" exists between the alleged libel, which occurred in Washington D.C. in 1997, and Ontario, Bangoura's current home. Therefore Ontario's courts could not claim jurisdiction. In 1997, The Washington Post said that Bangoura, a U.N. official stationed in Kenya, was guilty of misconduct and mismanagement. Bangoura lost his job and, after moving to Ontario, sued the Post for libel in 2003. He claimed that he had been libelled in Ontario because Ontarians could gain access to the Post's stories through the Internet. In 2004, Ontario's Superior Court of Justice ruled in Bangoura's favour and panicked 52 North American and British media corporations. The companies, which banded together to fight the decision in the Ontario Court of Appeal, feared that their freedom to report the news would be severely circumscribed if they could be sued according to the libel laws of foreign countries.

Hugh Owens [Sept. 16, 2005] In Regina, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal reserved judgment in the dispute between Hugh Owens and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. In 1997, Owens, an Evangelical Christian, published an ad in Saskatoon's StarPhoenix. The ad quoted four anti-homosexual verses in the Bible and displayed two stick men holding hands within a circular "banned" symbol.² Three men filed complaints with the commission, saying the ad violated the province's human rights code. In 2001, a one-woman tribunal ruled that Owens's ad exposed homosexuals to hatred and ridicule. Owens was ordered to pay $1,500 to each complainant, and the StarPhoenix was ordered to pay $1,500 to each complainant. In 2003, Saskatchewan's Court of Queen's Bench rejected Owens's claim that he was exercising his right of free speech and upheld the tribunal's decision.³

ACTION: Because Owens was punished for publishing his (religious) opinion, and because the court's final decision in this case could affect publishers and writers who publish contrarian, politically incorrect, ironic or orthodox religious views on homosexual issues, the BPC'S Freedom of Expression Committee is monitoring the dispute.

Stephen Boissoin [September 2005] The news media renewed their interest in a dispute over a letter published in the Red Deer Advocate in Alberta on June 17, 2002. The letter, written by Rev. Stephen Boissoin and headlined "Homosexual Agenda Wicked," strongly condemned homosexual rights activists and programs. The letter prompted Darren Lund, a homosexual activist and academic, to file a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission (AHRCC) on July 22, 2002.⁴ In the complaint, Lund suggested that Boissoin's letter (and other similar letters) encouraged an attack on a 17-year-old homosexual man in Red Deer. The AHRCC plans to hear the dispute in 2006.⁵

ACTION: Because Boissoin faces censure for publishing his (religious) opinion, and because the AHRCC's decision in this case could affect publishers and writers who publish contrarian, politically incorrect, ironic or orthodox religious views on homosexual issues, the BPC'S Freedom of Expression Committee is monitoring the dispute.

Canadian Librarians [August 2005] Responding to e-mailed enquiries from Gabriele Lundeen, chairwoman of the BPC's Freedom of Expression Committee, seven Canadian librarians reported challenges to the following publications in public libraries throughout 2004–05. The publications included a newspaper, books and videos:

• Click to display table (opens new window)

This list is not exhaustive.

ACTION: The editors of the BPC's Freedom of Expression Committee added the print titles to the forthcoming issue of Freedom to Read 2006.

Notes

1. Maher Arar is a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who was suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda and who was deported to Syria by U.S. authorities for imprisonment and torture. O'Neill's story relied on leaked Canadian government documents about the Canadian government's role in the incident.

2. Owens offered to sell bumper stickers with the same image and message. The verses were Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1 and I Corinthians 6:9-10.

3. According to Janet Epp Buckingham, legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Owens has no lawyer representing him in court.

4. The AHRCC dismissed Lund's complaint on Jan. 25, 2005, but Lund appealed on Feb. 22, 2005. The AHRCC subsequently agreed to air the dispute.

5. Numerous Evangelical Christian organizations in North America are following this case on the World Wide Web. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian organization in the United States, has pledged financial aid to Boissoin. Lund's supporters include Ron Ghitter, a lawyer and former senator, but not Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE).