Ottawa must end this censorship

By SALIM MANSUR:

The year-long controversy surrounding the complaint brought by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean's magazine and author/essayist Mark Steyn under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, embarrassed and pushed the Canadian Human Rights Commission to seek an independent "comprehensive policy review of how best to address hate messages on the Internet."

This independent review by Richard Moon, University of Windsor law professor, released this week should by all accounts bring an end to the misgivings over Section 13 that puts a chill on free speech by threatening prosecution on the "prohibited grounds of discrimination."

Professor Moon has called for repeal of Section 13. He recommends that the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) should "no longer deal with hate speech, and in particular hate speech on the Internet.

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