By Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms ——Bio and Archives--June 21, 2023
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TORONTO, ONTARIO: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that the appeal of a hate promotion case arising from criminal charges against Bill Whatcott will be heard, today, June 21, 2023, at 10 AM EST by the Court of Appeal of Ontario.
The Court address and room number are:
Courtroom No. 10, Osgoode Hall
130 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario
The Free to Care Society of Canada, which has intervened in the case, will be submitting to the Court that expanding the interpretation of hate speech to include criticism of practices or beliefs fundamental to a group’s identity risks criminalizing authentic dialogue and discussion around numerous issues, including sexuality and religion.
The factual background of the case involves a criminal charge of “wilful promotion of hatred” against Bill Whatcott, for his actions at the 2016 Toronto Pride parade. Mr. Whatcott, along with others, dressed as “gay zombies” and distributed pamphlets, which the Crown alleges promoted hatred. The flyers stated that gay sex was dangerous and unhealthy, alongside images of sexually transmitted diseases and a corpse. The flyer concluded by urging readers to believe in Jesus Christ.
On December 10, 2021, Mr. Whatcott was acquitted following a trial in the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario.
The Crown appealed Mr. Whatcott’s acquittal. In its factum, the Crown argues that the trial judge misapplied the meaning of “hatred” and incorrectly excluded evidence from one of the Crown’s expert witnesses. The Crown argues that advocating against gay sex is equivalent to advocating for “the eradication” of gay men.
Free to Care is a Canadian ministry which was initially formed to defend religious freedom and to defend the personal choices of Canadians in pursuing the counselling and therapy of their own choice. Free to Care opposes harmful and coercive counselling. Free to Care also opposes Canadian laws that, under the language of banning “conversion therapy”, actually prohibit Canadians from freely choosing support and counseling in relation to their same-sex attraction.
Founder and spokesperson, Jojo Ruba, emphasizes the importance of the arguments before the Ontario Court of Appeal because of “the potential implications this case could have, both on our work, as well as in the lives of millions of Canadians who uphold traditional views on sexuality, including those who are members of the LGBT community.” Mr. Ruba continues, “Specifically, Free to Care is concerned that, if accepted, the arguments made by the Crown would characterize conversations seeking to persuade others to change their actions or beliefs as criminal hate speech.”
Free to Care does not take a position for or against the acquittal of Mr. Whatcott, but seeks to caution the Court against accepting the Crown’s argument that moral disagreement with gay sex is equivalent to advocating for “the eradication” of gay men. Accepting this argument would be an affront to the right of all Canadians to express freely their opinions about sexuality and sexual behaviour. In his affidavit filed with the Court, Mr. Ruba states:
“The presuppositions underlying the claim that simply disagreeing with homosexual sex constitutes advocating the ‘eradication’ of gay people, would, if applied generally by the courts and the law, lead to very concerning and consequential societal outcomes, in Free to Care’s view.
“If Canadians cannot express objection, even strongly, to the behaviour of other Canadians, important dialogue within and between different cultural, ethnic, political, sexual, and faith groups could be rendered essentially meaningless, harshly sanitized of authenticity essential for providing mutual understanding.”
On May 8, 2023, the Court of Appeal granted Free to Care’s request to intervene in the appeal.
“Canada has a long history of different religious groups living side-by-side peacefully with the freedom to disagree with each other’s practices,” says Hatim Kheir, lawyer for Free to Care. “This history stretches back to the Constitution Act of 1867 and is strengthened in the Charter. Our country is built on the idea that the best way to live together peacefully is to give people the freedom to authentically express their views and beliefs and live out their own values.”
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Founded in 2010 as a voice for freedom in Canada’s courtrooms, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF’s) mission is to defend the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education.