Hate Speech in Canada

Hate speech can be defined as “any form of expression directed at objects of prejudice that perpetrators use to wound and denigrate its recipient”. Hate speech presents itself in many different forms, including direct talk, symbols contained in parades and cross burnings, and, more recently, Internet websites. It is speech that conveys a message of inferiority, is directed against members of a historically oppressed group, and is persecutory, hateful, and degrading.1