Putting Faith in Hate

Many recent hate speech cases in Canada and elsewhere involve religion either as the source of views that are alleged to be hateful or as the subject of such views and sometimes both. This talk will examine how some of these controversies - focusing primarily on the regulation of anti-Muslim speech and speech that ridicules religious beliefs, practices, and symbols.

Speaker: Richard Moon

Richard Moon is professor of law at the University of Windsor. He is also the author of The Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Conscience and Religion, ad editor of Law and Religious Pluralism in Canada. He wrote an influential report for the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2008 - "The Regulation of Hate Speech on the Internet". He has won both the law school and university-wide teaching awards as well as the Mary Lou Dietz Award for contributions to the advancement of equity in the university and community.

Discussant: Randy Boyagoda
President of PEN Canada; Novelist; Professor of English at Ryerson

Moderator: James L. Turk
Director, Centre for Free Expression