The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ruled in favour of hearing a case of online hate speech by a former Chilliwack school trustee.
The case involves British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) on behalf of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, and Barry Neufeld. It was filed against Neufeld after he made comments online in 2017 about SOGI 123, a sexual orientation and gender identity guide used in B.C. schools.
“At the risk of being labelled a bigoted homophobe, I have to say that I support traditional family values and I agree with the College of paediatricians that allowing little children choose to change gender is nothing short of child abuse,” he wrote in a public post on Facebook. “But now the BC Ministry of Education has embraced the LGBTQ lobby and is forcing this biologically absurd theory on children in our schools.”
The tribunal heard arguments on July 7 this year from Neufeld and the BCTF, with Neufeld arguing that the matter should not be considered provincially.
B.C.'s Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, is an intervenor in this case, and on Aug. 8, announced that the tribunal had ruled in favour of hearing the case.
As part of her intervention, Govender had argued that the tribunal does have jurisdiction over hate and discriminatory speech published online. Her announcement noted that she is pleased with the tribunal's decision and will be speaking on the matter again in the fall, when the tribunal hears the case.
"The commissioner is pleased to see the tribunal agreed with her argument 'that there is no principled basis' to carve internet publications out of the scope of protections offered in B.C.’s Human Rights Code,'" the statement said.
“This is a positive decision for people across B.C. and Canada,” Govender said. “The tribunal’s decision means that discriminatory or hateful speech will not be immune from provincial human rights laws just because it was published online. The B.C. Human Rights Code will continue to offer protection to people in this modern context.”
At issue was Section 7 of the B.C. Human Rights Code, which targets publications that perpetrate discrimination and hatred against protected groups. The tribunal found that Section 7 "does, in fact, provide a means of redress to people whose rights have been violated in online publications, and that this falls within the province’s constitutional jurisdiction," Govender added. "The tribunal clarified that while jurisdiction over telecommunication systems is held federally, this does not prevent provinces from applying provincial laws to online conduct that falls within an area of their authority."
She said this decision will help people targeted by online hate speech access justice.
“The internet is a significant part of our daily lives and a medium where harmful content can spread quickly and with profound consequences," she said "I am glad to see that complainants can rely on B.C.’s human rights law when discriminatory content is published online.”
In Govender's role as intervenor and the commissioner, she will be providing guidance to the tribunal on the legal test for hate speech, to help distinguish between speech that discriminates against gender-diverse people and speech that, while offensive, does not breach B.C.’s Human Rights Code.
The actual allegations of hate speech have not been weighed yet, although Neufeld did state at the July 7 hearing that he felt it was a "foregone conclusion."
That hearing will take place this fall.
READ MORE: Human Rights Tribunal weighs jurisdiction in Chilliwack online hate-speech case
