Or, why Joseph Brean works for the National Post, and I don’t…
The Justice Department is also evaluating a controversial proposal to explicitly write hate motivation into the Criminal Code as an aggravating factor in any crime, from common mischief to murder.
In such a divisive climate, the criminal prosecution of a young blogger would have drawn awkward attention, and as much criticism as praise.
In the past, this has often worked to the advantage of the accused, notably the Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, who was investigated under 319(2), but prosecuted under the law against reporting “false news,” which was ruled unconstitutional.
“There’s no doubt that a downside of criminal prosecution is it gives all kinds of free publicity to the views of the person accused of hatemongering,” Prof. Ryder said.
“Perhaps its most important roles are symbolic and preventative, to express our condemnation of hate propaganda against the groups that have most frequently been the targets of hateful speech,” he said.
Nice to see our Establishment Betters admitting publicly what they say amongst themselves in private: that they believe we average Canadians simply need to be taught a lesson once in a while. One of us will occasionally be chosen at random to serve as an example to the others.
Those of you who complain that these laws are arbitrary are missing the point that they are supposed to be.
That is one reason –besides congenital stupidity — that our Establishment Betters become so tongue tied when debating an Ezra Levant or a Mark Steyn. Our Elites know the laws are arbitrary. They want them to be, because the unprincipled Left changes enemies frequently and their weapons have to remain multi-purpose, like Swiss Army knives.
But the Elites can’t actually give the game away in public. So they mumble about Martin Luther King or theatre fires or whathaveyou, and since MLK’s name etc have become a talismanic invocations in some circles, this ploy actually works much of the time.