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How effective are Canada’s hate speech laws in combating anti-Semitism?
By BERNIE BELLAN Are Canada’s hate speech laws at all effective in combating what has been an outpouring of anti-Semitism since the Hamas massacre of October 7?
That was the question discussed by two individuals with legal backgrounds – Lea Ross and David Matas, in front of an audience in the Multipurpose room of the Asper Campus on Tuesday, December 19.
The event was sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Winnipeg Friends of Israel, and Bridges for Peace. There were about 75 people in attendance.
Lea Ross is a former lawyer who now works teaching musical conducting within the Winnipeg school system. She is also a former student of David Matas – having studied human rights law with Matas at the University of Manitoba law school. Ross also had a number of years experience at the Manitoba Legislature helping to draft laws.
The format for the evening, following introductory remarks, had Ross posing a series of questions to Matas about human rights laws and, following Matas’s answers, entering into further discussion with him about what he had said. Their exchanges moved along quite quickly and, after about an hour, members of the audience were also invited to ask questions.
Ross had also prepared a hand-out for audience members which listed “relevant federal and provincial laws related to hate speech and expression.
In her introductory remarks Ross noted that, since 2009, there have been approximately 2,000 hate crimes a year recorded in Canada. Ross observed that various professors at law school had stated that hate crime laws in Canada “are ineffective and largely symbolic.”
“It’s as if Canada passed a law and then walked away,” Ross oberved.
Having made her thoughts on hate laws here quite clear to the audience, Ross asked Matas the first of her series of questions: “What more can be done?”
Matas responded that we can “increase the sentences for hate crimes, but we can’t look at hate crimes alone.” Matas added that one of the defenses often offered by individuals charged with hate crimes is that what they had said was “the truth.” He explained that Section 319 (3) of the Criminal Code says, among other things, that “No person shall be convicted of an an offence… if he establishes that the statements communicated were true,” but Matas suggested that “truth is a problematic defense.” (One might think, for instance, of the contention that saying Israelis are guilty of “genocide” could be considered hate speech, but the most commonly heard rebuttal to that argument is that genocide can have various interpretations and therefore, it might be true.)
Further, Matas alluded to the difficulty even in initiating a hate crime charge under the Criminal Code of Canada (which added hate crimes to the list of criminal offences in 1985). According to Section 319 (6), “no proceeding for (a hate crime) offence shall be instituted without the consent of the Attorney General of the province in which the hate crime is alleged to have occurred.” (That difficulty was also cited by Prof. Bryan Schwartz in a talk he gave about antisemitism on university campuses in the Berney Theate on Thursday, November 30. My report on that talk can still be read on our website.)
Notwithstanding the difficulty in getting a hate crime charge laid, Matas did suggest that, if one were sufficiently motivated to do so, one could launch a private prosecution against an individual for a hate crime.
Matas also added that, “We’re not so much interested in how to make the (hate crime) laws better, it’s how to make the laws work” in the first place. For instance, he suggested, “you could use other offences in the criminal code that don’t require the consent of the attorney general.”
He brought up a recent instance in which a man in BC was charged with “indecent communication” for making threats against an Ottawa Jewish doctor in a phone call made to that doctor.
Ross brought up a section of the criminal code hate laws that refer specifically to “promoting anti-Semitism.” Section 319 (2.1) says: “Everyone who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, willfully promotes anti-Semitism by condoning, denying, or downplaying the Holocaust” is guilty of an offense. Ross wondered whether that section ought to be “broadened to target conspiracy theories” beyond the Holocaust?
She then brought up the hornet’s nest known as the internet, asking Matas what he thought could be done to better control the explosion of anti-Semitism on the internet?
Matas responded that “the first recourse shouldn’t be to the police, it should be to the internet providers…If hate speech violates the terms of service (of a particular provider), then they can cut them off.” (Matas also said he actually has read many of those interminable “terms of service” documents that are included in so many websites and apps. That in itself should get him some kind of special award.)
Now, lest one think that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees, among other guarantees, “freedom of expression,” Matas noted that “the Canadian Charter doesn’t apply to private companies.”
“France and Germany hold internet companies liable for what’s posted,” Matas pointed out.
Further to the issue of what constitutes antisemitic expression, Ross referred to the expression, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” noting that both Austria and the Netherlands have moved to have that expression banned. She wondered whether “Jews should move to have it banned in Canada” as well?
Again, Matas responded that the Charter’s right to free expression wouldn’t pertain to someone mouthing that expression on a university campus, as “the Charter doesn’t apply to universities.”
Thus, “if the (Federal) government were to ban it, it would be subject to the Charter, but if universities and private companies were to ban it,” the Charter wouldn’t apply, so it is conceivable that a university could act to prevent a student or students from voicing that expression. (At the end of this article I refer specifically of the case in which a University of Manitoba Nursing student was suspended for sharing anti-Semitic posts on Instagram.)
Yet, Matas wondered, “Do we start legislating expressions?”
Ross asked: “What can we do to better protect our youth from hate speech?”
Matas drew upon his own experience as a youth, when he saw a film about “stereotypes,” saying that film had a lasting impact upon him – and suggested that showing a film of that sort to students would be of great benefit.
Ross brought up the question of competing rights: The right to freedom of expression and the importance of protecting vulnerable groups. She wondered how we can maintain a balance? (Interestingly, in this same issue, we have two different articles, by Michael Posner and by Henry Srebrnik, both of whom explore the issue of how far the pendulum has swung in protecting so called “vulnerable groups,” which apparently doesn’t include Jews.)
Matas said: “Academic freedom has gone wild, but very often you’re dealing with conflicting rights. The balance lies in determining where the greater harm lies,” but right now, “the balance is totally tilted” in favour of those so called vulnerable groups.
Ross asked whether “we should ever go to human rights commissions” when it comes to trying to protect against hate speech?
Matas responded that “human rights commissions (which are products of provincial legislation) don’t deal with incitement to hatred.”
Speaking of provincial legislation, Matas further explained that “the Defamation Act (also a Manitoba statute) which refers to a “libel against a race, religious creed or sexual orientation” doesn’t allow for damages, which is why it’s almost never used.”
Yet, Matas added, “it’s not as if we have nothing now. What we have to do is make better use of existing laws.”
One could sue for libel under the Defamation Act if one believes they were libeled as an individual; however, there is no such thing as “group libel,” Matas observed.
When it came time for questions, I asked the same question of David Matas that I had asked of Bryan Schwartz when he spoke about anti-Semitism on university campuses. I noted that the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba had suspended the Nursing Association’s president for what were described as antisemitic posts on Instagram. (Apparently her suspension is still under appeal. At least that’s the only news I could find when I tried to search for an update on that story.)
Regardless whether the suspension is reversed or not, that student was suspended for what were described as “anti-Semitic posts.” I said to Bryan Schwartz and I said to David Matas: The Faculty of Nursing exhibited some intestinal fortitude. (And yes, I’m well aware that one might say, this was different. How would a Jewish patient feel knowing the nurse dealing with them might be an antisemite? Come on: There are all sorts of professions and positions about which we could say the same thing.) The fact is, as I said to David Matas: The surprise isn’t that more universities haven’t taken action in response to hate speech, the surprise is that one actually did.
Local News
Marty Green expands his protest against extremist Jewish settlers to two more venues – and continues to be arrested – despite the Crown having dropped all charges
(Monday, November 9) In earlier posts we wrote about Marty Green having been arrested several times after continuing to protest Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians on the West Bank.
Here is an update to what has been happening to Marty:
The Rady JCC was quick to call police on the weekend to have Marty Green arrested for the third time since September. Released after his original arrest on September 23, and again, after his subsequent arrest on October 14 – even after Green’s agreeing to an undertaking not to return to the campus, police charged Green yet again – this time on November 7. The charge this time was breaching his release conditions. His placard, which proclaims the IDF to be complicit in outrages carried out by settlers in the West Bank, was confiscated by the Major Crimes unit, which is investigating him for hate crimes.
However, Green suggests the Campus ought not to celebrate prematurely. He disputes the Breach charges, saying that the Crown Prosecutor had already decided not to proceed with the earlier charges that were filed last month and, as a result, the restraining order that had been imposed upon him was, therefore, null and void at the time he was arrested on November 7.
Green says that the police eventually realized that was a problem, which is why they decided to add a new charge of “Disturbing the Peace.” Green describes this new charge – based as it was on conduct identical to the earlier conduct which the Crown investigated and decided not to prosecute – as a “shallow pretext for once again interfering with (his) hard-fought right to Freedom of Expression.” He further claims the confiscation of his placard prevents him from communicating its message “even in places where (he) still has every legal right to protest.”
The final word, according to Green? The campus may not have seen the last of him, his placard, his accordion… and his little dog, too.
(Tuesday, October 27) We received the following press release about Marty Green being arrested again, both at the University of Manitoba and at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue:
Both sides came to blows on Saturday, October 24, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue as security personnel sought to prevent Marty Green from interfering with synagogue traffic as he protested just outside synagogue grounds against the actions of religious settlers in Israel’s occupied West Bank territory. Synagogue Executive Director Rena Secter Elbaze quickly intervened to prevent further escalation. Police arrived shorty thereafter and detained Green for 45 minutes before driving him home and releasing him. It is not clear whether their decision not to lay charges was the result of their own onsite investigation or whether it was at the request of the synagogue executive.
Green has now been arrested four times in the last month and faces multiple charges for disturbing the peace, including two episodes at the Asper Campus and one more this past Friday (Oct. 23) at the University of Manitoba. While Green says initially he was merely handing out leaflets (at the Asper Campus), since his first arrest on September 23, he has returned to the campus with a large placard and an acccordion, accompanying himself while singing songs with lyrics that include such phrases as “The Jews Are Bananas….B-A-N-A-N-A-S”. In addition to listing actions of the religious settlers as including arson, vandalism, and theft, he pointedly alleges that the IDF has been backing up the settlers in their actions.
Green had earlier notified the Shaarey Zedek that he was contemplating bringing his protest to the synagogue. He was told that if he attempted to enter the grounds he would be prevented from doing so. At that time, Secter Elbaze told Green that his intentions were inappropriate, declaring the synagogue to be “a house of worship dedicated to prayer, learning, community, and spiritual engagement.” Green responded that if the synagogue were willing to contact the Crown and inform them that “that there was never any legal basis for their claims that I was conducting myself inappropriately at the Asper Campus” (with regard to his earlier arrests) that he would “voluntarily refrain from carrying his informational campaign to the synagogue(s).”
Green further argues that the recent “psak” (religious ruling) by leading Israeli rabbi Rov Dov Lior, in which Lior declares that it is not merely permissible but praiseworthy for Jews to steal olives from Arab orchards….that this ruling brings his protest within the proper realm of religious discourse. He says further that if the local rabbis were willing to speak out to their congregations against the aforesaid psak, that he might have refrained from taking his campaign to their grounds.
Although Green was released on Saturday without charges, police confiscated his placard. They explained that it was being held as evidence pending an investigation by Major Crimes as to whether it constituted hate literature.
There was no further information given as to what happened at the University of Manitoba.
Local News
Former Winnipegger Adam Druxman living the Hollywood dream
By MYRON LOVE A dwindling number of Post readers may still remember the song “You Ought to be in Pictures.” Adam Druxman may not be in “pictures,” but his life’ s work is the next best thing. For almost 40 years, the former Winnipegger has had the privilege of being behind the camera helping to make magic happen.
“I always loved the movies,” says the son of the late George Druxman and the recently deceased Joan Druxman. But, growing up in Winnipeg (Old Tuxedo largely),” he recalls, “the prospect of actually having a career in movies in the ‘80s was quite a reach.”
As a young adult, the closest Druxman came to the movie business was working for Adi’s Video Shoppe (which most of us of an older generation will no doubt remember). Ultimately, it was a chance exposure to the Winnipeg Film Group that turned out to be his entry into film production.
The young, aspiring filmmaker signed up in 1988 to take a course in filmmaking – through the WFG – with acclaimed Winnpeg-based filmmaker John Paisz.
“From John, I learned to write, shoot and edit a film,” Druxman recalls. “At that moment, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
With a grant from the National Film Board of Canada and the WFG, the young filmmaker created a five-minute film called “The Guinea Pig Age,” a satirical look at how humans have become test subjects for products and the environment.
The next evolution in Druxman’s pursuit came in 1989 with a move to Toronto where he hoped to enrol in Ryerson’s film program. “I decided in August that I wanted to go to film school, but it was way too late for enrolment,” he recounts. “I wasn’t able to get into the program until the following year, but I decided to move to Toronto anyway. That was my first time living away from home. I enrolled in some night courses and and also began looking for a job.”
He was, he says, encouraged to seek work in the industry as a production assistant – essentially a “gofer”, he points out. “I didn’t know that was a thing I could do. So I send out 1,000 resumés –with nothing on them because I didn’t have any experience.”
His break came when he got a call at 2:00 A.M. from a production company looking for a production assistant. “My roommate, Shanno Zaslov, answered the phone,” he recounts. “She was so excited that I had received a call that she told them not to contact anyone else while she tried to find me at a surprise birthday party. After that first job, I never looked back.”
Over the past nearly 40 years, Druxman has never been out of work for long.
His first credited role – as third assistant director – was in a 1992 production called “Stay Tuned, shot” in Vancouver. It starred Pam Dawber (of “Mork and Mindy” fame) and the late John Ritter. Druxman’s responsibilities included organizing the extras, maintaining quiet on the set, blocking out pedestrians and outside traffic during a take, helping to ferry actors between their trailers and the set, and alerting the performers.
After that movie, Druxman moved to Los Angeles. He was soon promoted to second assistant director and – four years later – was promoted to first assistant director – a role he has performed with distinction ever since.
“ As first assistant director,” he continues, “in prep, you manage scheduling, logistics, day-to-day operations and locations. During the shoot, you run the set, give cast and crew their call times, deal with issues such as weather delays, safety on the set, and manage the time of the shooting day.”
Among the better known movies that Druxman has been involved with have been: Adam Sandler’s “The Waterboy,” “50 First Dates,” “Boogie Nights,” “Transformers,” “Magnolia,” and two of the “Super Trooper” films.
Some of the TV series that he has worked on have included: “Weeds,” “Prison Break,” “Fargo,, Dark Matters,” “Las Vegas,” and “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” – a remake of the popular series first created by Carl Sagan 45 years ago.
“The crazy thing about living in LA,” Druxman observes, “is that I could drop in at any random Starbucks for a cup of coffee and run into a writer or director who might ask if I am available for a movie or TV show.”
It was a tough decision for Druxman to leave LA behind and move his family to Seattle about 14 years ago. “”We moved to Seattle to be closer to my wife’s family while our son was in his formative years,” he says.
Druxman admits that it was scary leaving LA. “At first, I was didn’t tell anyone I had left LA,” he recalls. “I was afraid that some producers wouldn’t consider using me because I wasn’t in LA anymore.”
Nonetheless, he felt confident that he was well-established in the industry and that – with movie and TV production largely moving out of what used to be described as “the movie capital,” -he would still be in demand. His assumption turned out to be correct.
Seven years ago he and his family moved again – this time to Chicago – after working on the movie “Candyman.”
“Housing was far more affordable in Chicago as compared to Seattle,” he says. “I had shot in Chicago four times before. I love Chicago. It’s a beautiful city. And I love the people here. It’s like a giant Winnipeg.”
“I’ve been lucky to have had a good career and met a lot of great people over the years,” Druxman says.
Currently, Druxman notes, he is in between projects. It is always a concern, he concedes – either feast or famine – especially since the industry is going through a lot of changes between the Covid lockdowns, multiple union strikes, the streaming services reducing their content, and more production going overseas. But, he remains confident that something will turn up sooner or later.
“This business is cyclical,” he observes. “There is always a ying to the yang.”
Local News
Young entrepreneur Jonah Shapiro balances business pursuits with university studies
By MYRON LOVE While most of us may not know what we wanted to do for a living when we “grew up,” Jonah Shapiro is an exception. The son of Sean and Kera Shapiro has been in business for himself since he was 14. Currently, he is balancing the responsibilities of running two businesses while taking commerce courses at Huron University in London, Ontario.
The entrepreneur’s business career began six years ago while in Grade 9 at St. John’s-Ravenscourt – evolving out of a business class he was taking at the school. “My project,” he recounts, “was marketing a golf shirt brand. After six months, the business was so successful that I expanded my product line to include team and club apparel.”
His first customers, Shapiro recalls, were students in his class. He then took over providing BBYO apparel. (He served as BBYO treasurer for two years.) He was soon providing apparel for local high school teams, businesses and specific events.
“It was rather challenging at first getting my foot in the door, he concedes. “Here I was, 14 years old, showing up and having had to have my father drive me to the appointments.”
Nonetheless, he made enough of an impression that he was soon receiving a lot of referrals.
Last September (in 2025), Shapiro began classes at Huron University with Advanced Entry to the Ivey School of Business at Western University in London, Ontario.
At the same time, he officially incorporated “Student Merch”- and expanded his reach nationally. The online Student Merch provides custom apparel and other merchandise for Canadian university groups.
Shapiro reports that he currently has contracts with student groups at Western, Queens, UBC, McMaster, McGill and York. “There are more than 300 universities across Canada,” he says. “We will soon have ambassadors at all of them.”
This past summer, the enterprising young man started a second business venture in his home town. “Benny’s Home Services” cleans windows. Shapiro reports that Benny’s provided its services over the summer to 325 customers in and around Winnipeg. This past summer, he says, the Benny’s team also provided its service to BB Camp – where Shapiro was a camper for many years as well as a counselor – free of charge.
He notes that the Winnipeg company has a crew of 14. With Student Merch, Shapiro handles all the managerial work by himself.
This fall, the young entrepreneur received some prestigious recognition. He was one of 12 students to participate in the Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship’ s Founders Program, which recognizes Western’s top student entrepreneurs and community builders and pairs them with alumni mentors, along with an opportunity for leadership roles within the Morrissette Institute. The inclusion in the program comes with a $20,000 scholarship.
The newest feather in Shapiro’s cap is his being invited to be a part of Tangerine Bank’s brand new Tangerine Business – a mobile-first digital banking platform for Canadian entrepreneurs and small businesses. Tangerine is Canada’s original digital bank.
“Tangerine asked entrepreneurs across Canada to help develop its new banking program,” he says. “I was invited to provide a young entrepreneur’s perspective.”
No doubt about it, to use an old phrase: “The world is currently Jonah Shapiro’s oyster,” and his potential would seem to be unlimited. I am sure readers will be interested to follow his career achievements over the coming years.
