The dangers hidden within the 'online harms' bill: Justice Centre lawyer Marty Moore
Marty Moore warns how individuals merely accused of plotting to commit a vaguely-defined 'hate crime' could face a number of severe sanctions from provincial courts.
On Tuesday, Ezra Levant hosted an emergency broadcast breaking down the dangers hidden within the details of the Trudeau Liberals new 'online harms' bill. While large parts of the bill cover standard issues of protecting children — most of which already exists within Canadian law — aspects of it pose a threat to fundamental rights like freedom of expression.
“Maybe you can tell me what concerns you the most,” Ezra asked Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Marty Moore, who joined the show. “Sort of skip ahead to the bad parts, what do you think is the worst part of this?”
One of the worst parts, Marty said, was the amendment to the Criminal Code that allows for an individual to bring forward a complaint that someone else has not yet committed a 'hate crime', but that they have reasonable grounds to believe this person may commit a 'hate crime'.
X“Under this new piece of legislation ... we [the government] can put an ankle monitor on you, we can issue a curfew that keeps you in your house, we can order that you submit your bodily fluids for the registry,” he explained, simply because the government has “reasonable grounds to believe that you will commit a commit a crime.”
Justice Minister Arif Virani defends the Liberals' 'online harms' bill, saying he's "duty bound" to protect Charter rights like free expression.
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) February 28, 2024
He then suggests the government should have control over what you see in your social media feed.https://t.co/1YG82sBZQ2 pic.twitter.com/QnWbGBVXUP
With vague definitions and severe punishments, Marty fears the government is has few guardrails for the 'online harms' bill.
"I have not seen any check on this yet. Having read this, and reading it again here, we're talking about real imprisonment or, you know, agree to all of these conditions of people just because someone else is judged by a provincial court judge to have a reasonable fear that they might cross the line into some level of hatred," he said.
Trudeau says Poilievre's opposition to the Liberals' planned 'Online Harms Bill' is "irresponsible and not serious."
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 22, 2024
Conservatives are "spreading lies," he says, before taking a shot at Poilievre over his plan to require ID to access adult content online.https://t.co/MiSqptmdu0 pic.twitter.com/RYMe54Pbna
"And we know that the definition of hatred is a squishy definition to start with. It's one of the most difficult legal concepts to explain because it's also very much in the eye of the beholder or the ear of the hearer."
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