Hate crime conviction

ARASH BEN SHAUL

A Fort St. John resident and self-proclaimed "white supremacist" was sentenced to four months in jail and three years of probation recently for spreading hate speech on the Internet.

The guilty verdict makes 31-year-old Bill Noble the first person in Canada to be handed a prison term for using the Internet to "wilfully promote hatred" against "Jews, blacks ... gay persons, non-whites and persons of mixed race[s] ... contrary to Section 319 (2) of the Criminal Code," according to the count of charges filed by the RCMP.

Noble's Internet postings, along with his personal website, which targeted minority groups and called for violence against them, were first brought to the attention of the RCMP in 2004 by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre (FSWC), a worldwide organization that monitors anti-Semitism and other forms of racial, ethnic and religious intolerance.

The RCMP, after a lengthy investigation, took the case to court in November last year. After nearly two months of deliberations, the Prince George Supreme Court handed Noble a guilty verdict on Feb. 4. The court sentenced him to four months in prison and also banned him from accessing the Internet for three years.

"I have to say this is highly unusual," said Prof. Elliot Robin, who teaches criminal and constitutional law at the University of British Columbia. "The last time we saw Section 319 was in 2005 when the First Nations chief, David Ahenakew, was convicted for racist comments. But his conviction got overturned by the Supreme Court a year later and he did no time in jail."

Section 319 of the Canadian Criminal Code bars individuals from "public incitement of hatred against identifiable groups" of different ethnic, religious, racial and sexual orientations. So far, four cases have been brought to the courts under the law, but Noble's is unique because it tackles, for the first time, the medium of the Internet. Furthermore, Noble is the first person to be actually given a prison sentence for violating Canada's hate speech laws.

In his defence, Noble argued that the law "exempts views expressed in private conversation from being prosecuted" under Code 319, due to a citizen's right to free speech. However, the presiding judge at the trial, Justice Glen Parrett, rejected Noble's argument as groundless. Since Noble published his views on the Internet, where millions can read them, it is impossible to claim that he meant them to be private, ruled Parrett.

Odin Patrick, a frequent contributor to the "white nationalist" website Stormfront.org, accused the "Jewish lobby" of orchestrating Noble's prison sentence. Patrick went on to say in a website posting that the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Canadian Jewish Congress are "censoring people and then throwing people in jail who criticized them for their censorship tactics."

Sgt. Sean McGowan, head of the RCMP Hate Crimes Unit, laughed off suggestions that Noble's trial was the result of pressure from the Jewish community. "We did get information about this website from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre," he said, "but after that, we were completely in charge of the case. We take any complaint seriously, regardless of who it comes from, and we make sure it is investigated fully and thoroughly."

McGowan said that the evidence in Noble's case was conclusive enough to warrant an arrest and a trial. "The bar is very high for hate speech cases," he said, "so we have to make sure a complaint meets all of the court's standards before we actually decide to take it to trial. This is clearly one of those cases."

Robin agreed that the standards for trying hate speech cases are very rigorous because they involve the issues of freedom of expression and censorship. "But the law is very clear on where the line is between free speech and hate speech," he said. "If you are wilfully promoting hatred in a public space against a group and it is likely to lead to violence against them, then that is something the law considers hate speech, and it has restrictions on that."

Leo Adler, director of national affairs for the FSWC, echoed Robin's assessment. "It's important to remember that we don't go after people just because we don't like them," he said. "We're against censorship, people have a right to express their opinions. But this was a clear violation of Canada's hate speech laws."

According to Anti-Racist Canada, another organization that monitors racism and intolerance on the Internet, other prominent white supremacists have virtually ceased making postings online since Noble's trial and conviction.

Adler commended the RCMP for its handling of the case, however, he said, there's much more work to be done. "I don't think this will put an end to hate speech," he said, "but I think it sends an important message. I think Canada's laws on handling hate speech are effective."

Arash Ben Shaul is a Vancouver freelance writer.

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