Posted on 02/15/2019 9:27:13 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Ontario’s attorney general is proceeding by direct indictment against a Christian activist charged with criminally inciting hatred against “the gay community.”
Bill Whatcott, 52, was in court again Thursday to answer to the Criminal Code charge, which carries a punishment of up to two years in jail.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies scheduled a judicial pre-trial — an in-chambers meeting to discuss trial procedure — for March 19.
His lawyer, Daniel Santoro, is asking that Whatcott be tried by judge and jury.
“My alleged crime is preaching the Gospel and sharing accurate information on the dangers of homosexuality at the Toronto homosexual Pride Parade in 2016,” Whatcott said in a live Facebook post before his court appearance.
“I’m very prepared to pay the price. I’m certainly prepared to go to jail,” he added.
“I am standing for Jesus here.”
He and his supporters had a “misplaced hope” that Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government would drop what he says is a “politically motivated” charge, Whatcott told LifeSiteNews.
Liberal Attorney General Yasir Naqvi authorized the hate crime charge two months before losing his seat in Ford’s landslide June victory.
Since then, 54,143 people have signed a CitizenGo (here) and LifeSiteNews (here) petitions asking Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to drop the charges.
Instead, Mulroney’s office authorized the Crown on January 21 to proceed by direct indictment, ministry spokesman Brian Gray told LifeSiteNews in an email, adding that he could not comment further on a case before the courts.
“The direct indictment removed Bill’s right to discover witnesses and have the case adjudicated for sufficiency of evidence at a preliminary hearing,” Santoro told LifeSiteNews in an email.
“We also confirmed on the record the election of judge and jury as mode of trial, and I will be requesting further disclosure of the Crown,” he said.
The charge dates back to 2016, when Whatcott registered in the Toronto Pride Parade under the pseudonym Robert Clinton on behalf of the Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.
He and several others marched in the parade disguised in skintight green bodysuits and face masks, and distributed 3,000 kits on “Zombie Safe Sex” that included a flyer warning of the physical and spiritual dangers of homosexual activity.
“Natural law is clear, homosexuality is incompatible with human nature. Disease, death and confusion are the sad and sordid realities of the homosexual lifestyle,” it read.
The flyer featured images of anal warts, a mottled corpse described as an “AIDS fatality,” and another of “genital warts in the mouth” set next to a headshot of an open-mouthed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It excoriated the “homosexual activism” of Trudeau, former Liberal Defence Minister Bill Graham, and former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
After a two-year investigation, Toronto Police Service issued a Canada-wide warrant for Whatcott in May 2018, and he turned himself in to Calgary police in June.
After a weekend in a Toronto jail, Whatcott was released on $5,000 bail with several conditions, including he surrender his passport.
Whatcott was also subject to a $104 million defamation class action lawsuit launched by lawyer Douglas Elliott.
An Ontario judge threw out the case in March 2017 but ordered Whatcott to disclose names of fellow “zombies” and “unidentified financial backers.”
That order is on hold pending appeal.
The Supreme Court of Canada in 2013 upheld a decision by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission that two of Whatcott’s pamphlets on homosexuality were “hate speech.”
While a crippling blow to free speech, the top court was ruling on whether Whatcott breached the province’s human rights code – not that he had committed a crime.
Canadians should be alarmed at what’s happening to Whatcott, said Pastor Art Pawlowski, founder of Calgary’s Street Church.
“We’re turning Canada into a Nazi state, into a communist state, where if you voice your politically incorrect views, you will be attacked by the forces of the government,” he told LifeSiteNews in an earlier interview.
Meanwhile, the Canada Anti-Hate Network (CAN) has lauded the hate crime prosecution, describing Whatcott as a “notorious homophobe,” and “a leading figure in the dissemination of homophobic hate propaganda in Canada for years.”
Whatcott is also waiting for a ruling from the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal on a discrimination complaint filed by transgender activist Morgane Oger, formerly Ronan Oger, which was heard over five days in December.
Whatcott, who lives in Alberta with his wife and two children, says he lost his job as an oilfield bus driver as a result of the hate crime charge, but he doesn’t regret his actions.
“Unworthy as I am, I think the Lord wanted me to do it,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“Somebody had to speak out. My flyer simply told the truth from a Christian perspective.”
https://gogetfunding.com/christian-persecution-of-whatcott-family/
Homofascists and their sycophantic apologists are afraid of the truth set down by God.
Every homosexual I’ve met has been a broken person. Suicide, depression, drug addiction, violence (from other gays), disease. Even among the “young and beautiful” ones, who are reveling in their youth and sexuality. And It only gets worse when they are older
What happened to that man’s right to free speech? Oh, wait. This happened in Canada. Never mind. Book ‘em, Danno.
To see who rules over you, simply find out who you cannot criticize.
describing Whatcott as a “notorious homophobe,
Well what does the dictionary tell us a homophobe is
Homophobe definition, a person who fears or hates homosexuals and homosexuality.
Well glad that leaves me out! I neither fear nor hate homosexuals! Now undoubtedly homosexual activity is a sin, morally wrong, for @ 2000 years criminally wrong, a high health risk etc. But because I am intelligent enough to understand that and accept that does not mean I fear or hate the people that engage in it.
When a government allows dissent, it allows not only an exchange of opposing views it allows for defusing tensions. Take away dissent and don’t be surprised if the outcome is ultimately much worse than hurt feelings in some protected class. Bottle up dissent long enough and you get the French Revolution or the current Yellow Vest revolt.
The medical evidence makes clear that his concerns are NOT "extreme or irrational"
When are we going to start offering these people asylum?
[[Ontario’s attorney general is proceeding by direct indictment against a Christian activist charged with criminally inciting hatred against “the gay community.]]
How about charging unsaved people with ‘inciting hatred’ against the Christian community?
No,I didn't think so.
Not only does Canada lack a 2nd Amendment...they lack an "equal protection" clause as well.
What they’re underestimating is that this will require facts around homosexuality to be analyzed. It’s “gay pride” on trial.
They will have to ignore all of the facts and convict based on hateful bigotry...for all to see.
They don’t understand how this is just a lose-lose situation - but of course they just can’t help themselves, a conviction will be viewed as a “win” by them. They can’t see past their hatred. That gay men, per the CDC, are ~40x more likely to catch HIV is never discussed....but if you think about the mechanics of it, multiplied by number of partners, and all within a small percentage of the population it isn’t surprising. It’s just math.
Think of how many topics you could discuss, everything from birthrates to dying alone, how living this lifestyle is a path to an early grave....backed up with loads of statistics.
I wish him the best but either way these fascists lose.
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