Free Speech Protected – for Advocacy!

So happy with this decision! Beautiful!

“Mr. Barry Neufeld, an elected public school board trustee in Chilliwack, B.C., publicly criticized the initiative in online posts, which triggered significant controversy including calls for him to resign. Many people in the community considered his statements derogatory of transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Mr. Glen Hansman, a gay man, teacher and former president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, publicly denounced Mr. Neufeld’s views, including to the news media, calling them bigoted, transphobic and hateful. He accused him of undermining safety and inclusivity for transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+ students in schools, and questioned whether he should remain a school board trustee.”

“Many people in the community considered his statements derogatory of transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Mr. Glen Hansman, a gay man, teacher and former president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, publicly denounced Mr. Neufeld’s views, including to the news media, calling them bigoted, transphobic and hateful. He accused him of undermining safety and inclusivity for transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+ students in schools, and questioned whether he should remain a school board trustee.”

“Mr. Neufeld sued Mr. Hansman for defamation”

Final Decision:

“The first instance judge correctly dismissed Mr. Neufeld’s defamation suit.

Writing for the majority, Justice Karakatsanis restored the first judge’s order dismissing Mr. Neufeld’s defamation suit. She decided the public interest in protecting Mr. Hansman’s speech outweighed the public interest in remedying the reputational harm to Mr. Neufeld. She agreed with the judge that Mr. Neufeld had suffered limited harm, as he continued to express his views despite the public reaction and won re-election a year later.

As for Mr. Hansman, he spoke out to counter what he and others perceived to be discriminatory and harmful speech against transgender and other 2SLGBTQ+ youth, “groups especially vulnerable to expression that reduces their worth and dignity in the eyes of society and questions their very identity”. His response to Mr. Neufeld’s statements was neither disproportionate nor gratuitous.

As Justice Karakatsanis explained, “[t]he closer the expression lies to the core values of [freedom of expression], including truth-seeking, participating in political decision-making and diversity in the forms of self-fulfillment and human flourishing, ‘the greater the public interest in protecting it’”. She concluded Mr. Hansman’s speech aligned with these values.

Beautiful!!!!

Here is the case explained in plain language by the Supreme Court of Canada. I highly encourage to read the decision explained. It’s not a long read and it’s very readable.

https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/cb/2023/39796-eng.aspx

Media articles about this:

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/05/19/former-chilliwack-school-trustee-defamation-lawsuit/


https://www.saanichnews.com/news/defamation-case-between-chilliwack-trustee-and-former-bctf-president-at-supreme-court-of-canada

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/neufeld-hansman-defamation-hate-debate-1.6059595

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2018/04/12/controversial-chilliwack-trustee-subject-human-rights-tribunal-complaint/