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Freedom of expression in Canada
Freedom of expression in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; however, in practice the Charter permits the government to enforce "reasonable" limits censoring speech. Hate speech, obscenity, and defamation are common categories of restricted speech in Canada.
Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes the right to freedom of expression, and the Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted this right in a very broad fashion. The Court has said that any act that is intended to convey a message is protected under section 2(a) but that this does not include acts that have a violent form. However, section 1 of the Charter establishes that "reasonable" limits can be placed on the right if those limits are prescribed by law and can be "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society".
Freedom of expression in Canada is not absolute; section 1 of the Charter allows the government to pass laws that limit free expression so long as the limits are "reasonable and can be justified in a free and democratic society". Hate speech (which refers to the advocacy and incitement of genocide or violence against a particular defined racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious or other identifiable group), and obscenity (a broad term referring to, among other things, literature that is unreasonable, dangerous or intensely inappropriate to society at large, such as child sexual abuse material or fraudulent medication intended to promote sexual virility), are two examples that gain significant attention from the media and in public discourse.
In the province of Quebec, freedom of expression is restricted in the interest of protecting the French language. Outdoor commercial signage may only use English text if it is half the size of the French text under the Charter of the French language, or businesses can face financial penalties. The Supreme Court ruled the signage regulation a "reasonable" limit on the freedom of expression.
Limits on speech were incorporated in the criminal code in relation to treason, sedition, blasphemous and defamatory libel, disruption of religious worship, hate propaganda, spreading false news, public mischief, obscenity, indecency and other forms.
Libel involves publication in some permanent form such as writing in a book or newspaper. Defamation is a tort that gives a person the right to recover damages for injury due to publication of words that were intended to lower a person's character. The law encourages the media to publish with caution, to avoid any forms of libel and to respect a person's freedom of expression.
"Defamatory libel" is a criminal offence under the Criminal Code. Subsection 298(1) defines defamatory libel as "a matter published, without lawful justification or excuse, that is likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or that is designed to insult the person of or concerning whom it is published." Section 300 prohibits the publication of defamatory libels that the publisher "knows is false." Section 301 prohibits the publication of any defamatory libel, but this section has been found unconstitutional as it could criminalize the publication of matters that are true.
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Freedom of expression in Canada
Freedom of expression in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; however, in practice the Charter permits the government to enforce "reasonable" limits censoring speech. Hate speech, obscenity, and defamation are common categories of restricted speech in Canada.
Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes the right to freedom of expression, and the Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted this right in a very broad fashion. The Court has said that any act that is intended to convey a message is protected under section 2(a) but that this does not include acts that have a violent form. However, section 1 of the Charter establishes that "reasonable" limits can be placed on the right if those limits are prescribed by law and can be "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society".
Freedom of expression in Canada is not absolute; section 1 of the Charter allows the government to pass laws that limit free expression so long as the limits are "reasonable and can be justified in a free and democratic society". Hate speech (which refers to the advocacy and incitement of genocide or violence against a particular defined racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious or other identifiable group), and obscenity (a broad term referring to, among other things, literature that is unreasonable, dangerous or intensely inappropriate to society at large, such as child sexual abuse material or fraudulent medication intended to promote sexual virility), are two examples that gain significant attention from the media and in public discourse.
In the province of Quebec, freedom of expression is restricted in the interest of protecting the French language. Outdoor commercial signage may only use English text if it is half the size of the French text under the Charter of the French language, or businesses can face financial penalties. The Supreme Court ruled the signage regulation a "reasonable" limit on the freedom of expression.
Limits on speech were incorporated in the criminal code in relation to treason, sedition, blasphemous and defamatory libel, disruption of religious worship, hate propaganda, spreading false news, public mischief, obscenity, indecency and other forms.
Libel involves publication in some permanent form such as writing in a book or newspaper. Defamation is a tort that gives a person the right to recover damages for injury due to publication of words that were intended to lower a person's character. The law encourages the media to publish with caution, to avoid any forms of libel and to respect a person's freedom of expression.
"Defamatory libel" is a criminal offence under the Criminal Code. Subsection 298(1) defines defamatory libel as "a matter published, without lawful justification or excuse, that is likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or that is designed to insult the person of or concerning whom it is published." Section 300 prohibits the publication of defamatory libels that the publisher "knows is false." Section 301 prohibits the publication of any defamatory libel, but this section has been found unconstitutional as it could criminalize the publication of matters that are true.