The debate over whether flyers Whatcott distributed in Saskatchewan in the early 2000s were protected by the right to religious freedom went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in 2013 that two flyers did violate the province’s human rights code. Whatcott and his associates that was the point.” “In other words, they engaged in a stunt, arguably it was a juvenile and offensive stunt, I rather suspect for Mr.
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Goldstein referred to the “outlandish costumes” worn by Whatcott and a handful of others - green skin suits and masks - as they handed out material their pamphlets, which “they surely knew would cause a stir. Whatcott’s views, but because protection of speech we dislike, or even despise, protects everyone in a free and democratic society.” “We take this approach not because we like or approve of Mr. “Our values as a free society, and our century-old legal tradition, requires that our system not criminalize those who hold the views that are merely obnoxious and unpopular,” Goldstein said reading his reasons in court while Whatcott and others watched and listened via zoom.
On Friday, following a lengthy trial, Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein said while he was acquitting Whatcott of the charge because of “the grey zone between legitimate expression and hate speech,” adding that Whatcott should “not take this result as a vindication or as an endorsement of his views.” In 2018, they charged William Whatcott with one count of wilful promotion of hate. Shortly after the 2016 parade, the Toronto Police Service launched an investigation after receiving a complaint about the flyer. An Alberta man may have reprehensible views, but he was not guilty of promoting hatred when he handed out graphic pamphlets at Toronto’s 2016 Pride parade that made various claims including “homosexuality is incompatible with human nature.”