Freedom of Expression Update

 
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

(February 2008)


1. 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.

Andrew McIntosh [Feb. 29, 2008] The Ontario Court of Appeal ordered the National Post to surrender a document to the RCMP that could reveal the identity of a person who tried to besmirch the reputation and undermine the authority of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Andrew McIntosh, a reporter at the National Post, received the document from a secret informant years ago. The document purportedly shows that Prime Minister Chrétien lobbied the Business Development Bank of Canada to loan money to a hotel in which the Chrétien family had an interest. The document could be a forgery; Chrétien and the bank deny any impropriety.

In court, the National Post sought to block police attempts to acquire the document. The newspaper sought to protect the confidential relationship between McIntosh and his informant and to prevent future news scoops from drying up. The police want to examine the document to see if it is a forgery and to investigate a possible crime.

Licia Corbella [Feb. 23, 2008] In the Calgary Herald, Licia Corbella urged Alberta’s voters to make freedom of expression an issue in the provincial election. She criticized the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission’s investigation of Ezra Levant of the Western Standard for reprinting some of the Danish cartoons about Mohammed in February 2006. Corbella then urged voters to contact Premier Ed Stelmach to abolish Section 3(1)(b) in the Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act.

Canada Border Services Agency [Feb. 14, 2008] In Ottawa, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) published revised guidelines for classifying prohibited books and magazines in Canada. Memorandum D9-1-1 describes the guidelines for classifying “obscene material.” Memorandum D9-1-15 describes the guidelines for classifying “hate propaganda, sedition and treason.”

The CBSA is responsible for detecting, seizing, evaluating, turning back or destroying prohibited books, magazines, movies etc. at Canada’s international border. The CBSA is responsible to Minister of National Revenue Gordon O’Connor.

Syed Soharwardy [Feb. 12, 2008] In Calgary, Syed Soharwardy said that he was dropping his human rights complaint against Ezra Levant. Soharwardy is an imam and the leader of the Supreme Islamic Council of Canada. Levant is the former publisher and editor of the Western Standard.

In February 2006, Soharwardy filed complaints with the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission because the Western Standard and the Jewish Free Press had reprinted some of the 12 Danish cartoons about Mohammed. The complaint against the Jewish Free Press has also been dropped.

Colin Kenny [Jan. 31, 2008] In Ottawa, Liberal Senator Colin Kenny called for the prosecution of Salman Hossain, a Muslim student at the University of Toronto, for condoning lethal attacks on Canadian soldiers in Canada. Kenny is chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.

In September 2007, the RCMP informed Hossain that he was under investigation for inciting and facilitating terrorism. Hossain had published messages on the Internet that said the killing of Canadian soldiers in Canada was “legitimate” and “well deserved.” He wants Canada to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Keith Martin [Jan. 31, 2008] In the House of Commons, Liberal MP Keith Martin introduced a motion to abolish Section 13(1) in the Canadian Human Rights Act. The clause prohibits the “discriminatory practice” of communicating messages that are “likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt.” Martin seeks to prevent activists from using the federal human rights tribunal to punish “offensive” publications.

Martin has received support for his motion from the National Post, newspaper columnists, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Association of Journalists and Stormfront. Federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, however, asked Martin to withdraw his motion.

Action: On Feb. 4, 2008, PEN Canada called on federal and provincial governments to change the laws that govern human rights commissions to ensure that they can no longer be used to restrict free expression in Canada.

The Golden Compass [Jan. 24, 2008] In Alberta, the Calgary Catholic School District decided to return copies of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass to school libraries, the news media revealed. A committee of the school board had reviewed the fantasy novel and had decided that it was appropriate for use in Roman Catholic schools.

In 2007, Roman Catholics across North America became alarmed when they learned that Pullman’s novels, which are skeptical of religious organizations and claims, were available in Roman Catholic schools. In December 2007, the Calgary Catholic School District told its employees to pull The Golden Compass from library shelves, not use the novel in classrooms and exclude it from Scholastic book fairs.

La Presse [Jan. 18, 2008] In Montreal, a judge in Federal Court ordered two reporters from La Presse to reveal their sources for a news story about Adil Charkaoui, a man arrested in 2003 and accused of having ties to terrorists. Justice Simon Noël said that Charkaoui’s rights and the administration of justice take precedence over freedom of the press and journalists’ protection of sources.

Canadian courts usually do not interfere with the work of journalists, but this was an “exceptional case requiring a solution out of the ordinary,” Noël said. Reporters Joel-Denis Bellavance and Gilles Toupin face questioning about their sources for the story that they published on June 22, 2007. La Presse said it would appeal the decision.

Little Sister’s Book and Art and Emporium [Jan. 17, 2008] In Vancouver, the owners of Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium announced in Xtra West that they were putting the bookstore up for sale. The store, which opened in 1983, specializes in the sale of books, magazines and movies with gay and lesbian themes.

For more than 20 years, Little Sister’s struggled against Canadian customs officials who routinely seized imported works with homosexual themes as “sexually obscene.” The bookstore’s owners took their legal fight twice to the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge the constitutionality of customs censorship.

The Sex Party [Jan. 15, 2008] In Vancouver, a judge in Federal Court ruled that Canada Post may not refuse to deliver the political pamphlets of the Sex party. The judge also ordered Canada Post to rewrite the regulations that govern the delivery of such pamphlets.

The Sex party filed a complaint against Canada Post in 2007 after the mail carrier refused to deliver the party’s campaign pamphlet during the federal election of 2006. Canada Post had characterized the pamphlet as “offensive” and “sexually explicit.”

Innocent Madawo [Jan. 8, 2008] In Toronto, journalist Innocent Madawo received a threatening phone call after he had written and e-mailed a news story about forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe. According to Madawo, the anonymous male caller threatened physical violence and had knowledge of Zimbabwe’s official languages (English, Ndebele and Shona). Police are investigating the threat.

Madawo’s article is entitled “Zimbabwe in 2008: What Ought to Happen Versus What Will Happen.” It is dated Jan. 7, 2008. Madawo e-mailed the story to colleagues in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa.

2. SECONDARY CHALLNGES AND ISSUES

The following disputes over speech, broadcasting, movies, music, art and immigration fall outside the committee’s mandate; however, they could indirectly affect the interests of the BPC’s members.

Bill C-10 [Feb. 28, 2008] In a lengthy amendment to the Income Tax Act, the Canadian government inserted a proposal to deny tax credits to publicly funded Canadian films and television programs if officials in the departments of Canadian Heritage and Justice deem that the productions are “contrary to public policy,” The Globe and Mail revealed.

The federal government hopes to deny tax credits to finished films and television shows that contain “excessive violence” or “gratuitous sex.” The proposal, which is buried in tens of thousands of words in Bill C-10, received no scrutiny in the House of Commons. The Senate had completed its second reading of the bill when The Globe and Mail published its story.

Action: On Mar. 4, 2008, the Book and Periodical Council e-mailed a letter to the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. The letter urged the committee, which is reviewing Bill C-10, to delete the tax-credit proposal from the bill or return the proposal to the House of Commons for debate.

David Ahenakew [Jan. 14, 2008] The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that David Ahenakew should get a new trial. Ahenakew, a retired aboriginal leader, was convicted in 2005 for uttering anti-Semitic remarks at a public event. In 2006, however, a judge set aside the conviction.

3. OTHER NOTEWORTHY EVENTS

Nancy Barbara Fleming [Feb. 24, 2008] In Toronto, Nancy Fleming died at the age of 76. Fleming served as executive director of the BPC from 1979 to 1999. She helped launch Freedom to Read Week in 1984. In 2002, she was a co-winner of the Canadian Library Association’s Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada.

Val Ross [Feb. 17, 2008] In Toronto, Val Ross died at the age of 57. She was an award-winning journalist, children’s author and arts writer. In 2006, she published You Can’t Read This: Forbidden Books, Lost Writing, Mistranslations & Codes for young readers.

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Contact Franklin Carter at (416) 233-0994 or rfcarter@idirect.com for the sources of these stories.

The opinions expressed in Freedom of Expression Update do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Book and Periodical Council or its member associations.

© Richard Franklin Carter 2008