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Analysis

Though it is slated for official repeal in June, Canada’s defunct and much maligned hate speech law, Section 13, is not going gently.

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The latest twist in the long running legal saga of the human rights law that governs hate on the Internet in Canada is a Federal Court of Appeal ruling, issued Friday, that finds Section 13 is constitutionally valid, and does not violate freedom of expression.

Coming as it does at the tail end of a vicious national debate about hate speech and censorship, the ruling leaves a bizarre impression, like something out of Monty Python.

Like the Norwegian Blue parrot, Section 13 is just resting. Like the Black Knight, its repeal by Parliament is just a flesh wound. Though it has been hoisted on the cross, its supporters may still, like Brian, always look on the bright side of life. Section 13 might be doomed, but it is good law. So sayeth the courts.

Even Section 13’s penalty section, under which hate propagandists can be fined $10,000, was found by the court to be “a reasonable means of imposing financial accountability for the damage caused by the vilification of targeted groups and of deterring the communication of hate speech in order to decrease discrimination against them.”