Canadian Christian forced to undergo second ‘hate crime’ trial after already being acquitted
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Albertan Christian Bill Whatcott must be retried for ‘Wilful Promotion of Hatred’ for distributing flyers warning against homosexual acts during the June 2016 ‘Pride Parade’ in Toronto.
LifeSiteNews
Mon Mar 4, 2024 – 4:00 pm EST
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LifeFunder: Help Canadian Christian Bill Whatcott fund his legal defense.
OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — An Albertan Christian is being forced to undergo second “hate crime” trial after already being acquitted in 2021.
On February 15, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Christian activist Bill Whatcott must be retried for “Wilful Promotion of Hatred” for distributing flyers warning against homosexual acts during the June 2016 gay “Pride Parade” in Toronto.
“The Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision this morning and upheld the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision that my acquittal for ‘Wilful Promotion of Hatred’ be overturned and a new trial be ordered,” Whatcott wrote on his blog.
Whatcott’s legal battle began in 2016 after he and a half dozen other Christian activists entered the Toronto gay “Pride Parade” under the guise of being members of “The Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.”
Whatcott has explained that he and his friends entered the parade as “gay zombie cannabis consumers” because the parade was not accepting of open Christians, figuring if they made an attempt to blend in they would be more effective.
During the parade, they handed out about 3,000 small packages made to look like condoms that contained Gospel passages and graphic photos of sexually transmitted disease sufferers, warning people of the physical and spiritual dangers related to homosexual practices and sharing the good news that Jesus Christ died for all of humanity, including those who have embraced the homosexual lifestyle.
Following the parade, homosexual activists announced a $104 million dollar class-action lawsuit, seemingly in a bid to financially ruin Whatcott and to discourage any future activism.
After two years of litigation, the homosexual activists dropped the lawsuit.
However, in 2018, the then-Liberal government of Ontario charged Whatcott with Public Incitement of Hate, contrary to s. 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada, alleging that his flyer was tantamount to criminal “hate speech.”
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Whatcott voluntarily surrendered to police in Calgary after a Canada-wide warrant was put out for his arrest. He was released on bail, with one of the terms of release being that his flyer faced a publication ban in Canada.
Whatcott’s case proceeded through the criminal justice system for 3 years before finally being heard in the Superior Court for Ontario in October 2021.
On December 10, 2021 the trial judge released his judgment finding Whatcott “not guilty,” entering a verdict of acquittal.
However, the Attorney General of Ontario refused to accept the verdict, instead appealing the decision in the Ontario Court of Appeal on June 21, 2023.
The government argued the 2021 ruling failed to properly consider homosexual activist Nick Mules’ “expert” analysis Whatcott’s flyer, alleging it promulgated “homophobic tropes” and “microaggressions.” Ultimately, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided Whatcott must indeed face a second trial.
“It seems Supreme Court disagrees with my lawyer and Justice Goldstein and they are content to have me go through another trial again with Nick Mule’s input,” Whatcott lamented.
“So the first trial is voided and we are back to June 2018 when the Canada wide arrest warrant was issued and I will be going on trial again probably some time later this year,” he added.
LifeSiteNews had launched a LifeFunder campaign to help Whatcott in his legal battles, a fund which is still active. To donate to financially support Whatcott, click here.
Whatcott being forced to undergo a trial for a crime which he has already been acquitted of came just weeks before the federal Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced Bill C-63, seeking to create the “Online Harms Act.”
Bill C-63 will create the Online Harms Act and modify existing laws, amending the Criminal Code as well as the Canadian Human Rights Act, in what the Liberals claim will target certain cases of internet content removal, notably those involving child sexual abuse and pornography.
In addition to these laudable goals, however, the bill also seeks to increase punishments for existing hate propaganda offenses in a substantial manner, as well as seeking to broaden the scope of the government’s ability to crackdown on speech.
A top constitutional lawyer warned LifeSiteNews that the legislation will allow a yet-to-be-formed digital safety commission to conduct “secret commission hearings” against those found to have violated the new law, raising “serious concerns for the freedom of expression” of Canadians online.
The proposed commission’s ombudsperson, along with the other offices, will be charged with dealing with public complaints regarding online content as well as put forth a regulatory function in a five-person panel “appointed by the government.” This panel will be charged with monitoring internet platform behaviors to hold people “accountable.”
Most worryingly, the new bill will allow it so that anyone can file a complaint against another person with the Canadian Human Rights Commission for “posting hate speech online” that is deemed “discriminatory” against a wide range of so-called protected categories, notably gender, race, sexuality, or other areas.
Penalties for violations of the proposed law include $20,000 fines and jail time