This should be fun…

But Mohamed Elmasry, leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress, warned on Sunday that his organization will seek to have charges laid against Levant’s publication under Canada’s hate laws.
ctv

Exra must be delighted. Now he can wrap himself in the Charter and enjoy the pleasure of knowing that - should this ever come to Court - either way he will have underscored the looniness of Canadian hate crimes legislation. Here’s a handy synopsis:

Under Section 318, it is a criminal act to “advocate or promote genocide” - to call for, support, encourage or argue for the killing of members of a group based on colour, race, religion or ethnic origin. As of April 29, 2004, when Bill C-250, put forward by NDP MP Svend Robinson, was given royal assent, “sexual orientation” was added to that list.

Section 319 deals with publicly stirring up or inciting hatred against an identifiable group based on colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. It is illegal to communicate hatred in a public place by telephone, broadcast or through other audio or visual means. The same section protects people from being charged with a hate crime if their statements are truthful or the expression of a religious opinion.
cbc

318 is not applicable here, 319 may be. However, and here is the rub, making fun of a particular long dead religious figure is not the same as inciting hatred.

Essentially, assuming that Mohamed Elmasry can manage to convince the police and the Crown to proffer charges, 319 will run squarely into the freedom of expression provisions of the Charter. And, in the instant case, where Muslims all over the world are having hissy fits and demanding governmental action, it seems a perfectly legitimate exercise of a free press to show readers what the fuss is about. And there is no question at all that Ezra can rely on both the Charter and the saving provisions of 319 - after all it is true that these are the cartoons all the fuss is about.

The CTV article describes the wimpy reaction of much of the Canadian and North American press, “Most Canadian publications including The Globe and Mail have chosen not to print the cartoons, opting instead to describe the images.” Descriptions of existing images are a long way from actually reporting the news. Rather like saying that the Mona Lisa is a painting of a woman with an enigmatic smile.

Ezra is sticking to time honoured maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words. Too bad more publishers and editors in Canada did not have the same sense of the obligations of their profession. (But it certainly explains the cratering circulation and viewership of MSM - afterall, if they are not going to report the news people are going to go to the net where it is actually reported.)

Written by jay on February 14th, 2006 with 12 comments.
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