Hate laws don't work

Editorial

The acquittal of David Ahenakew Monday – the second in six years – is evidence that change is needed in our country's approach to hate speech.

Ahenakew, a Saskatchewan former First Nations leader, was found not guilty Monday of inciting hatred against Jews for a 2002 interview in which he blamed Jews for the Second World War and spewed a litany of anti-Semitic invective. It was Ahenakew's second trial in the matter, because the Crown appealed his earlier acquittal.

"Mr. Ahenakew, the statements you made about Jewish people were revolting, disgusting and untrue," provincial court Judge Wilfred Tucker said Monday. But the judge concluded Ahenakew did not intend to incite hatred against Jews.

Last Thursday, during his testimony at the trial, Ahenakew said he does not "hate the Jews but I hate what they do."

In the 2002 interview, Ahenakew said that Adolf Hitler was "trying to clean up the world" when he "fried" six million Jews.

The debate in Canada is less about absolute free speech than where, exactly, limits should be placed. Whatever one's view, it is clear that the current legal framework is a failure. The legal system, Ahenakew and the Jewish community have been tied up in this case for more than six years only to have two acquittals. It should be asked, if Ahenakew's remarks were not intended to incite hatred, what was their intent?

Canadians need to decide whether we want a tougher law on hate speech or, like happened in the abortion law debate, no law at all.

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