INSIDEWATERLOO: LACKLUSTRE JUSTICE FOR HATE SPEECH

PROTESTING WITH MUSIC

LAYLA MORRISON

CONTRIBUTOR

Music is powerful.

It is a unifying force of rhythm and melody that brings people together from all walks of life and has been present in some form at all kinds of gatherings throughout human history.

We hear music in bars, restaurants, funerals, birthdays and even in wars. Historically, music was used to increase morale among troops, and instill fear within the enemy. Booming bass drums combined with a harmony of beautiful, intense, clamouring voices to create songs expressing frustration and anger toward a common enemy. This is true in cultures across continents, no matter how isolated the community. No culture is exempt from music and its power over people.

The beauty of music also comes from its ability to express all emotions, not just rage and discontent. Protest songs in the 1970s against the Vietnam War were often inspired by love of our fellow humans and hate for organized chaos and war created by establishments and governments.

Ironically, “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a song written in protest to the war in Vietnam, could be heard playing above the canopies of Vietnamese jungles from helicopters and low fl ying planes, with the sole purpose of instilling fear in the enemy and providing a morale boost to the allied troops fi ghting below. The song was also played at protests held by the fl ower children of the 1970s and other anti-establishment groups, unifying people under the disdain of a common enemy.

“Fortunate Son” lives on in protests even to this day�I played that same song at our protest against housing inequality outside Waterloo City Hall. It is a song equally about wealth inequality, nepotism and violence. Our housing crisis is a direct result of nepotism and free markets left unchecked and is increasingly violent to those who aren’t so fortunate.

The act of removing somebody from their home outside of their own terms is violent and life changing. Which adds to the importance of playing the right music at the right time during the recent housing protests.

As a DJ in a protest setting, there is a responsibility to fi ll the role of the historical drummer boy, a need to draw people together and send the appropriate message with the music being played. I handpicked songs with political undertones, and expressions of love, anger and discontent in regards to our housing crisis, which affects thousands of families across Waterloo Region and even the country. Everybody has a different opinion on what will solve this problem and I and the organizers had the ultimate goal of fostering healthy conversations with our politicians and neighbours. I wanted to create an environment with music that allows for these discussions and exchanges of ideas to occur. That’s when the real magic and positive changes will happen. MANA BEHZAD GRAPHIC

JUSTICE INADEQUATE FOR VICTIMS OF HATE SPEECH

INSIDEWATERLOO

PHI DOAN

CONTRIBUTOR

With the federal election now over, the Liberal government promises to address the resurgence of hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN), which monitors far-right hate groups, declared this resurgence a “hate crime crisis.”

Taking a look at how we currently approach this issue reveals why it’s so hard to tackle in the fi rst place.

According to Waterloo Regional Police data, there were only 15 policereported hate crimes in the region in 2019. However, according to Statistics Canada data analyzed by the CAHN, Canadians self-reported 223,000 hate-motivated incidents in 2019, with police only managing to investigate fewer than one per cent of them as hate crimes.

Dr. Noah Weisbord, associate professor at Queen’s Law, explained that current laws aren’t as simple as just criminalizing hate, but rather there are four provisions laid out in the Criminal Code: Section 318, which prohibits advocating genocide; Section 319, which addresses public incitement and willful promotion of hatred; Section 430, which is regarding mischief relating to religious property; and Section 730, which is evidence of the offence being motivated by prejudice and bias.

Weisbord explained that after police offi cers, prosecutors make their own judgements on the situation and what charges are appropriate.

“So, the police come in with a million different possible potential charges and the prosecutors choose the ones that they think are the most serious or worthwhile to spend their time on,” Weisbord said.

Sometimes, it may be easier to prove assault or harassment without tying in discrimination as well. Alternatively, offi cers fail to recognize and collect the pertinent evidence needed for those charges.

Last year, an Asian woman reported a man following and yelling racial epithets at her. Guelph Police spoke with the man, but did not press charges. They pressed charges only after receiving more reports alleging the man had done this multiple times. Guelph Police issued an initial statement explaining why they didn’t charge the man.

“While racist comments are seen as an aggravating factor when combined with criminal activity, such as making death threats, racist comments on their own are not illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada,” Guelph Police said in their release.

Weeks later, the same man was charged again for harassment, along with an assault charge. While it required multiple reports for harassment charges, all that was required for the assault charge was the man allegedly spitting at a person.

During the federal election, little was said in regards to addressing hate crimes. This was despite the rise in anti-Asian sentiment, Canadians still struggling to call residential schools acts of genocide, and a Muslim family killed in what Crown prosecutors say amounted to terrorism. Locally, an online vigil held for the victims was Zoom-bombed by Islamophobic trolls.

During the campaign, Justin Trudeau was dogged by fervent anti-vax/ lockdown groups, which the CAHN found to be fertile grounds for white nationalist recruiters. A former People’s Party of Canada (PPC) riding manager was at the London campaign stop and was charged for allegedly throwing gravel at Trudeau and later evidence found by CAHN connected him to multiple white nationalist social accounts.

With the Liberals back in power, they pledged to introduce anti-hate legislation within the fi rst 100 days of taking offi ce, along with a national anti-hate action plan by 2022. A national fund for survivors of hate attacks was also proposed.

The Liberal platform echoes their previous attempt with Bill C36 earlier this year, which aimed to clarify the defi nition of online hate speech and bring back Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. It would allow Canadians to fi le complaints against hatemongers. After tribunal hearings, the courts would be able to issue peace bonds and collect fi nes.

There were concerns about freedom of speech and potential exploitation, but proponents say it would only be reserved for the worst perpetrators.

“On the other hand, you don’t want the government to come out with overly sweeping powers to restrict. There’s a risk of the government turning that on Black Lives Matter or these Asian community organizations if the government shifts,” Weisbord said.

Coincidently, there was a Liberal MP that sponsored a petition calling for criticism of police offi cers to be classifi ed as hate speech.

Whatever new legislation brought forward to address hate crimes will still require institutions to be able to recognize that element of hate in the fi rst place. Weisbord suggested that more diverse representation in the legal system would be needed to do this.

With the defi nition of hate speech being so vague, among other issues, getting justice for victims is more diffi cult PHI DOAN PHOTO