Press Release: Little Sister’s Book & Art Emporium and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association

Little Sister’s Bookstore and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association Vow to Continue to Fight for Canadians’ Free Speech and Equality

Little Sister’s, a gay and lesbian bookstore, and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association have committed to carry their long standing baffle with Canada Customs to the Supreme Court of Canada. ‘Their commitment is the result of a split decision by the B.C. Court of Appeal today.

A 2-1 majority of the appeal court panel ruled that the legislation which empowers Customs officials to prohibit books, magazines, videos and other materials is justified despite violating Canadians’ free expression rights.

However, the plaintiff bookstore and the civil rights organization were immensely encouraged by the dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Finch, who found that the legislation was unconstitutionally vague and not demonstrably justified in Canada’s free and democratic society.

Janine Fuller, manager of the bookstore said, "I believe that Justice Finch understood the profound impact of Customs’ censorship on the gay and lesbian community, bookstores and writers. his decision was a clear move towards the intellectual freedoms that all Canadians should have."

The Court of Appeal decision is just another step in the legal battle between Canada Customs and Little Sister’s Bookstore and BCCLA. The fight began in 1986 when Canada Customs banned The Advocate, a gay journal, on the basis that depictions of anal sex were obscene. Since that time, Little Sister’s has been targeted for special scrutiny by Customs. Materials written by award winning authors such as Jane Rule, Pat Califia and Susie Bright have been seized while the same materials were imported by mainstream booksellers without difficulty.

The plaintiffs took their case to B.C. Supreme Court which found that though Custom agents violated the plaintiff’s expression and equality rights in arbitrarily detaining materials that were not obscene and in unfairly targeting the bookstore for scrutiny, the legislation that gives Customs its authority is constitutionally valid.

In the B.C. Court of Appeal the plaintiffs argued that no matter how much effort is made to train and equip Custom officials in assessing gay and lesbian books and magazines for obscenity, the system of "prior restraint" will inevitably lead to impermissible restrictions on free speech of Canadians.

Though disappointed by the majority decision, Andrew Irvine, President of the BCCLA notes that "like Mr. Justice Finch, we believe there is no basis for a reasonable apprehension of harm in this case that would justify a system of prior restraint. We are optimistic that we can convince the Supreme Court of Canada that we are right."

In his dissenting reasons, Mr. Justice Finch said, "Free expression is a fundamental right in any democratic society. A statutory scheme that imperils the free distribution of morally unimpeachable material cannot be justified by the lame explanation that obscenity was the real target."

Egale Canada ©2011

Canada's LGBT human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice.