Repeal section 18 of The Human Rights Code of Manitoba

To minjus@leg.gov.mb.ca,

The Honourable Matt Wiebe

Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Government of Manitoba
Room 104 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 0V8

Dear Minister Wiebe,

RE: Repeal section 18 of The Human Rights Code of Manitoba

I am writing to urge your government to immediately repeal section 18 of The Human Rights Code, C.C.S.M. c H175, which gives Manitoba’s human rights system broad powers to punish the public expression of opinion by Manitobans.

Sections 13 through 17 of The Human Rights Code of Manitoba prohibits discrimination in the areas of employment, services, housing and tenancy, contracts, and other areas of civic life. These sections effectively prohibit discriminatory signage such as “Women need not apply” or “Jews not welcome here.”

Section 18 is fundamentally different because it targets speech itself. It prohibits publishing, broadcasting, circulating, or publicly displaying statements that discriminate, indicate an intention to discriminate, or incite, advocate, or counsel discrimination in connection with activities covered by the Code.

Section 18 restricts freedom of speech, rather than only discriminatory conduct. It empowers Manitoba’s human rights system to punish citizens for expressing opinions on matters of public interest, i.e., for exercising their freedom of expression protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As you know, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ordered former Chilliwack School Board Trustee Barry Neufeld to pay $750,000 to various LGBTQ teachers because he criticized imposing gender ideology on children. His comments do not come remotely close to the wilful promotion of hatred as prohibited by section 319 of the Criminal Code, and nobody suggested that Mr. Neufeld was guilty of hate speech. Yet provincial human rights legislation was used by activists to prosecute and punish a man because they disagree with his speech. Section 18 similarly gives Manitoba’s human rights system power over non-criminal speech, which is outrageous in a free country.

I therefore urge you, and all Members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, to support the immediate repeal of section 18 of The Human Rights Code of Manitoba, to protect freedom of speech in Manitoba.

Sincerely,