Toronto’s by-law against inciting racial hatred in city park speeches was ruled invalid today, when Magistrate Charles Opper acquitted William John Beattie, Canadian neo-Nazi, on a charge of using language likely to stir up hatred against Jews and Negroes. The magistrate said freedom of speech is a matter that can be legislated only by Parliament.
In his 15-page judgment, Magistrate Opper said his view was based on the Bill of Rights, passed by Parliament in 1960, which specifically provides for freedom of speech and is intended to apply to all persons in Canada. “The idea of freedom of speech is woven through the fabric of British justice as we have known it, and still continues”, he said. “I believe that this right, no matter how trying the circumstances may be, should not be tampered with lightly and particularly on a local basis or even on a provincial basis, but that there should be one law in this connection for every Canadian resident.”
In the first prosecution under the city by-law, Beattie was accused over remarks in his 35-minute speech last June 19 in Allan Gardens. A double ring of plainclothes detectives and mounted policemen surrounded Beattie during his speech, and held back more than 2,000 persons, police witnesses told Magistrate Opper. Beattie was charged with using language likely to stir hatred against sections of the public distinguished by color, race, religion, ethnic or national origin, namely Jews and Negroes.
The magistrate disagreed with all the arguments presented by the defense counsel except one — the freedom of speech argument — which was enough to acquit the defendant. The magistrate held that Beattie’s speech was insulting to Jews and Negroes and that it did stir up hatred, but declared that the Bill of Rights upholds freedom of speech as a fundamental freedom which cannot be overridden by a municipal authority. At present a government bill is under debate in the Canadian Senate, which will outlaw genocide and incitement to racial hatred.
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