Free Speech
UBC cancels event featuring speaker who believes mass graves at residential schools are a hoax
A UBC student event was cancelled this week after a guest who promoted the idea…
Judge in hate speech trial won’t hear free speech charter argument before trial
QUESNEL - The hate-speech versus free-speech debate continues in a Quesnel courtroom after a judge decided to wait until the end of trial to hear constitutional arguments from the accused charged with promoting hatred. Roy Arthur Topham, born 1947, is charged with promoting hatred against those of the Jewish religion or ethnic group on his...
Distributor of anti-gay flyers in Kamloops says he’s leaving the country for good
KAMLOOPS – The controversial author of a what some have called a 'hate-flyer' will no longer deliver them in Kamloops or any other Canadian city — according to his latest blog post, he's leaving the country for good. Christian proselytizer Bill Whatcott, known across the country for delivering pamphlets targeting and discouraging homosexuality, abortion and...
Controversial ‘hate flyer’ comes to Kamloops
CHRISTIAN ANTI-GAY, ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST BILL WHATCOTT IN TOWN? KAMLOOPS – The hate speech versus free speech debate has landed literally on the doorsteps of Kamloops. Last Saturday, Ben Gayfer says he was at the Northland Apartment complex on Nicola Street when a one-page pamphlet was slipped under the door. The pamphlet, signed by Christian anti-gay...
Free speech examined at Philosopher’s Cafe
KELOWNA - A local professor will discuss the challenges and importance of free speech in Canada at a Wednesday evening event in Kelowna. Andrew Irvine, a UBC professor and past president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, will be speaking at the Philosopher’s Cafe at the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre. His talk, Where to Draw...