Canadian government continues to pummel pro-family activist Bill Whatcott for “anti-gay” flyer he passed out in 2016! Facing trial again for the same “hate speech” charge - after acquittal.

Judge ruled “not guilty” in 2021. But government appealed for 2nd trial, and Canadian Supreme Court agreed. “Double jeopardy” is legal in Canada.

Whatcott continues to stand strong – a principled inspiration for all of us.

March 20, 2024

Bill Whatcott has been persecuted and tormented by the Canadian government for simply telling the truth about a politically protected subject - but stands by his principles.

Bill Whatcott is one of those people who ultimately helps change the world for the better. Many people talk about fighting back against the radical agendas degrading society – but back off when the government (or the Left) threatens them. Bill Whatcott takes his Christian faith seriously and refuses to back down!

Bill Whatcott speaks at Pastor Artur Pawlowski's church in Alberta in Dec. 2018 about the LGBT movement's assault on rights in Canada.

The details of this outrageous situation are documented by MassResistance here.

The “crime”

In 2016, Bill and his friends registered to march in the Toronto Gay Pride Parade as members of the “Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.” Marching in the parade wearing masks and green body suits, they passed out flyers to the crowds of onlookers. The flyers warned of the horrible medical consequences of homosexual behavior and contained Bible verses. (Publication of the flyer has been banned in Canada by the courts. MassResistance has made it available.)

The "Gay Zombies" marching in the Toronto Gay Pride Parade. Note the contingent of naked men right behind them.

The "Gay Zombies" handing out flyer packets.

The “gay pride” parade itself was incredibly disgusting and revolting. Among other things, there were contingents of completely naked men marching in front of and behind Bill’s group, in full view of children and everyone else. (This was a clear violation of Toronto’s nudity laws, but that was ignored by the police and authorities.) The parade also included bigoted anti-Catholic and anti-Christian imagery. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no problem with any of this and marched in the parade.

Also in front of them this group of completely naked men was marching. The authorities ignored them. See a 39-second video clip here.

After the parade – attempted LGBT civil lawsuit against Bill

A month after the parade, a group of prominent Canadian homosexual activists filed an absurd $104 million civil lawsuit against Bill – and anyone who financially supported him. They were seeking damages for “defamation” and “hate speech” against the parade participants and the Toronto LGBT community. To make their point, they announced the lawsuit in the press room of the Canadian National Parliament in Ottawa.

LGBT activists hold press conference in the press room of the Canadian Parliament building on August 12, 2016 to announce their $104 million lawsuit against Bill Whatcott.

But the lawsuit was dropped by the plaintiffs in 2018 when they learned Whatcott had neither personal funds nor wealthy donors.

Bill’s arrest for “hate speech”

There was clearly an obsession that Bill must be severely punished.

In 2018 (two years after the parade incident), when it was clear the multi-million-dollar lawsuit was failing, the Ontario government stepped in. The Ontario Attorney General formally charged Bill with “willful promotion of hatred.” Because Bill was living in Alberta, they put out an over-the-top “nationwide warrant” for his arrest (a procedure usually reserved for dangerous criminals and fugitives).

When Bill heard about it, he simply turned himself in at the Calgary police station. At the station, a group of Bill’s supporters, including noted Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski, gathered to show support.

Bill Whatcott (center) with well-known Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski and Amy Contrada of MassResistance on the day he turned himself in to the Toronto police. (Amy was the lone American reporter to cover Bill's arrest.)

Some of the two dozen Christian protesters outside of the Calgary Police Station supporting Bill Whatcott as he comes to turn himself in.

Around the time of his trial (2021), overwhelming numbers of actual crimes were simply being dismissed (due to Covid confusion), including approximately 80% of the drug offenses in Ontario and 43% of the DWI offenses, as well as assaults, theft, and others. But the government insisted on spending upwards of a million dollars prosecuting Bill Whatcott for passing out a flyer.

The trial – and the verdict

Attorney John Rosen was considered the best criminal defense lawyer in Canada. In an incredible stroke of luck, he agreed to take Bill’s case. Rosen was also able to get public funding for his fee, since Bill had no money.

Ontario Superior Court, the scene of an absurd criminal trial - over the text of a flyer passed out several years earlier!

The trial began on Oct. 4, 2021. During the 8-day trial the government threw everything they had at Bill. They even brought in a prominent medical expert to “debunk” the facts on his flyer. But Attorney Rosen was absolutely brilliant in his defense. He even proved how the medical expert was wrong in her assessment! And he brought in a university theologian who testified that Bill’s flier reflected Christian belief.

On Dec. 10, 2021, the judge announced his verdict: Not Guilty! He wrote that the flyer was “obnoxious” and “offensive,” but did not legally constitute “hate speech.” He added the obvious: that if Bill had truly intended to promote “hatred toward gays,” he would not have picked a gay pride event to do so!

Even with Canada’s absurd “hate speech” laws (and lacking our First Amendment), the Crown could not make a convincing argument against John Rosen’s rock-solid defense.

One would have thought that all this nonsense over a flyer that was handed out in 2016 would finally be over. But no.

The Crown successfully appeals to have a second trial

In the U.S., “double jeopardy” is unconstitutional. But in Canada, the government can appeal a “not guilty” verdict and force a second criminal trial. Even so, everyone was shocked when two weeks after Bill’s acquittal the government filed a “notice of appeal.”

Several months later, in October 2022, the Crown submitted a formal 45-page appeal describing its reasons why the judge “erred” in his verdict.  On May 16, 2023, Attorney Rosen submitted a 37-page rebuttal to the appeal.

One of the reasons given for the appeal was that the judge declined to allow “expert testimony” from a homosexual activist college professor on the subject of “tropes of anti-gay discrimination” allegedly contained in Bill’s flyer. (These are simply the professor's opinions and not grounded in Canadian law. This professor is also a self-declared authority on “expert kink” and “queering social networks.”)

On August 11, 2023, the three-judge Appellate Court (not surprisingly, all leftists) released a 34-page ruling unanimously accepting the appeal and ordering a new trial for Bill!

Attorney Rosen then filed a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. But on February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court announced (also not surprisingly) that it declined to take the case. So Bill must go through a second criminal trial.

The current situation

It’s looking very tough for Bill, but he's standing as strong as he can.

He has been forced to quit his job in Alberta and move to Toronto to begin preparing for his new trial, which will likely commence in June or July. He hopes to find a place to live in Toronto with friends.

Attorney John Rosen has retired. His law firm may or may not represent Bill this time, since there is no public funding for him at this point. The Ontario Attorney General’s office has virtually unlimited funds and intends to do whatever it can to send Bill to prison. All this over a flyer that was passed out eight years ago.

Final thoughts

This whole bizarre situation is very serious. Bill’s persecution is intended as a warning to all Canadians to keep silent on LGBTQ issues.  It is raw government censorship.

A society under siege must have people like Bill Whatcott willing to fearlessly stand up for free speech and push back on the government’s stranglehold on its citizens.

But people like Bill also must not be left to dangle in the wind. They need strong support from the national pro-family community. Sadly, that is not happening in Canada. Not a single major Canadian pro-family group is coming to Bill’s aid and confronting the Ottawa Attorney General (and other officials). They are apparently “embarrassed” that Bill is taking on the LGBT issue so directly. And only one major Canadian conservative news organization, LifeSiteNews, has even written about Bill’s appeal and double-jeopardy second trial.

But MassResistance is behind Bill 100%! We will keep you informed and do our best to keep up the pressure.