Ontario Court Strikes Down Draconian Federal Election Censorship Law

NewsSpencerFernando

Canadian Constitution Foundation celebrates ruling as a victory for free speech.

Amid an environment of further government control and further centralized efforts to limit free expression, there has been a rare win for free speech.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has struck down section 91(1) of the Canada Elections Act.

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As noted by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, this is a win for free speech:

“Today’s decision is a major victory for Canadian voters and for freedom of expression,” said CCF Executive Director, Joanna Baron. “The court struck down the provision of the Canada Election Act that prohibited publishing false statements because the government had removed the requirement to prove that the publisher knew the statements were false.”

Thus, someone could have mistakenly made a false statement during an election, and faced severe penalties (including up to 5 years in jail). That’s something you would expect in an authoritarian state, not a supposedly ‘free’ country like Canada.

The CCF further said, “This legislation had the potential to fine and even imprison people for honest mistakes. This would create a chilling effect on the free exchange of political ideas and opinions, and the law acts as a form of unjustified censorship. We are thrilled that the law has been struck down. This result will improve the electoral process and also protects the fundamental right to freedom of expression,” concluded Baron.”

While the Trudeau government continues to try and dominate the media and limit free expression, this is a rare win for Canadians, and we owe the CCF a lot for their efforts to defend free speech in Canada.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – YouTube