Warman v. Lemire, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Expert Report [Hate Speech Regulation in a Democratic State]
Alexander Tsesis · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2007
This report is prepared at the request of the Attorney General of Canada to address the impact of hate speech on a pluralistic society. After careful examination of legal, historical, and sociological sources, this report concludes that the prohibition of hate speech addresses a pressing and substantial concern relating to the general welfare purposes of civil society. The prohibition of hate speech through laws such as section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is rationally connected to this goal. Such laws minimally impair free speech needed to maintain a tolerant democratic society since hate speech has no truth value. The salutary effect of a law regulating the use of hate propaganda protects individual rights at an extremely minimal cost to the fundamental value of free speech.