Livestreamed transphobic assault in Hamilton shows why Canada must be tougher on hate, expert says
CBC
WARNING: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing and offensive.
The Hamilton man who livestreamed himself unleashing a transphobic tirade and assaulting someone on a city bus in 2022 is a prime example of why Canada needs stronger legislation against cyberbullying and online hate, according to an expert and 2SLGBTQ+ advocates.
"This unfortunate case of the person taking on transgender people is the kind of case the government was looking at and thinking about in introducing the Online Harms Act," said Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law and a former task force chair on bullying and cyberbullying in Nova Scotia.
Last week, Chris Pretula was sentenced to seven months in jail for assault and breaching court orders for the incident in August 2022.
During the unprovoked incident, Pretula made multiple transphobic comments including calling the rider a "goofball, weird, transformer-looking fool" and said, "what is your pronoun, dipsh-t?"
Pretula later kicked a rider in the leg three times and threatened to "kick your f---ing head off" as he got off the bus.
When police charged Pretula, a day after CBC Hamilton asked them about the video, the clip he posted online of the assault spread on social media, sparking reaction from local members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community among others.
Some people wondered why some of the comments Pretula made weren't enough to warrant their own criminal charge.
That's because right now, the Criminal Code only uses motivation by hate or bias as a factor that influences sentencing. In Pretula's case, the judge found his crime was hate-motivated, which led to a harsher sentence.
But MacKay and 2SLGBTQ+ advocates say if the government's proposed Online Harms Act becomes law, it will be a step toward combating hate — because under the act, Pretula could've faced a third charge for carrying out crime motivated by hate.
"Our hate crime legislation was not built for a digital or social media world," said Fae Johnstone, executive director of the Society of Queer Momentum, a 2SLGBTQ+ non-profit.
The act is before the House of Commons and had a first reading in late February.
Some of the proposals in the act related to hate include:
Critics of the act, such as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, have said the proposal violates people's rights and freedoms.
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