We're fighting back against Alberta's censorship law

Benita Pedersen is facing eight days before Alberta’s Human Rights Tribunal over a flyer opposing a rainbow crosswalk. Now Rebel News is fighting back by launching a campaign to repeal Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Act.

Ezra Levant
  |   September 17, 2026   |   Be the first to comment

Article by Rebel News staff

A Westlock, Alta., woman is spending eight days before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal over a homemade flyer she handed out in June 2023 opposing her town council's plan to paint a rainbow crosswalk. Benita Pedersen, a DJ who performs at children's birthday parties, is facing 15 witnesses and duelling expert psychiatrists under Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Act, a provision that bans speech "likely" to expose someone to hatred or contempt, even without proof the harm ever occurred.

The law has produced only one other completed hearing in two decades — involving a Red Deer pastor whose penalty was later thrown out by the courts, which warned the provision could chill free speech. Even the Human Rights Commission's own annual report shows censorship complaints make up less than one per cent of its caseload, rounded to zero last year. The official who decides which complaints proceed to a hearing is a lawyer and former UCP cabinet minister appointed by Premier Danielle Smith's own government in 2024.

Smith has previously said hate speech matters belong in the Criminal Code, not before tribunals, and her own 2012 Wildrose platform proposed repealing the section outright. Ottawa repealed the equivalent federal provision in 2013 under the Harper government, and the Carney Liberals confirmed this spring they won't attempt to revive it, leaving Alberta with a stricter censorship law than the federal government.

Rebel News is launching a permanent campaign urging the Alberta government to scrap Section 3. The plan includes ranking a UCP policy resolution on free expression ahead of the party's November convention, a billboard on Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton, a petition delegation at the convention, and continuing coverage of every day of Pedersen's hearing.

Take action to repeal Section 3 by chipping in below or visiting www.ScrapTheCensorshipLaw.com.

Please donate to help us get the censorship law scrapped!

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Help repeal Alberta's censorship law.

A DJ from Westlock is facing eight days of hearings over a flyer, under the same section 3(1) that was used on Ezra Levant for 900 days over the Danish cartoons. Danielle Smith has said herself that hate speech belongs in the Criminal Code, not a tribunal. We don't have to change the Premier's mind — just help her get it done.

Your donation funds the campaign: about $6,000 for our Highway 2 billboard between Calgary and Edmonton, where every delegate driving to the UCP convention will see it, and roughly $17,000 for the petition, our presence at that convention in November, and ads on Alberta's independent media.

Rebel News takes no government money — not a dollar — which is exactly why we can run a campaign like this. Alberta would be the first province in Canada to scrap its censorship law. It's just us — and you.

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Ezra Levant

Rebel Commander

Ezra Levant is the founder and owner of Rebel News and the host of The Ezra Levant Show. He is the author of multiple best-selling books, including Ethical Oil, The Libranos, China Virus, and most recently, Trudeau's Secret Plan.

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