| I'm in New York en route to Rush's studio for my guest-hosting stint today so I won't have anything more to say about this until late afternoon, but this is a landmark decision: I have determined that Mr. Lemire contravened s. 13 of the Act in only one of the instances alleged by Mr. Warman, namely the AIDS Secrets article. However, I have also concluded that s. 13(1) in conjunction with ss. 54(1) and (1.1) are inconsistent with s. 2(b) of the Charter, which guarantees the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. The restriction imposed by these provisions is not a reasonable limit within the meaning of s. 1 of the Charter.
Since a formal declaration of invalidity is not a remedy available to the Tribunal (see Cuddy Chicks Ltd. V. Ontario (Labour Relations Board), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 5), I will simply refuse to apply these provisions for the purposes of the complaint against Mr. Lemire and I will not issue any remedial order against him. This is the beginning of the end for Section 13 and its provincial equivalents, and a major defeat for Canada's thought police. It's not just a personal triumph for Marc Lemire, but a critical victory in the campaign by Ezra Levant, Maclean's , yours truly and others to rid the Canadian state of this hideous affront to justice. For more on this, check in with Blazing Cat Fur, Five Feet Of Fury, Jay Currie, Scaramouche, Deborah Gyapong and others. |
