(LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian woman is taking her case to the British Columbia Supreme Court after she was fined $10,000 for privately warning her friend against undergoing “transgender” surgery.
According to an April 2 press release, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is working to overturn a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decision which fined Kirstin Olsen $10,000 for privately voicing concerns over her friend’s gender “transition.”
“It is very concerning to see a government tribunal policing private communications between friends, and imposing a $10,000 penalty, without giving any heed to the fact that Canada’s Charter guarantees freedom of expression,” JCCF lawyer Marty Moore said.
“A comment of concern for a friend is very different than evicting someone from their home on the basis of their race, religion, sex or other protected personal characteristic,” he continued. “The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal should focus on combatting genuine cases of discrimination rather than policing speech.”
The controversy began in 2017 when Terry Wiebe, a friend and tenant of Olsen, told her that she had begun taking cross-sex hormones and was considering undergoing a mastectomy. At the time, Wiebe was living in her parked mobile home on Olsen’s property.
When Wiebe asked Olsen if this decision would impact her tenancy, Olsen declined to answer but revealed that she did not support the move considering her “own mother’s breast cancer and mastectomy and the complications that could arise from such a surgery.”
The two remained friendly for some time, with Olsen even paying for Wiebe to return to B.C. following a hospital stay due to what appeared to be complications from cross-sex hormones.
In 2018, Olsen asked Wiebe to leave her property after Wiebe got into arguments with other people on Olsen’s property. According to Olsen, this decision had nothing to do with Wiebe’s gender claims.
However, the tribunal ruled that Olsen’s “discrimination” resulted in Wiebe deciding not to take testosterone (to present as male) while living in the building, although Wiebe told her friend and another tenant that she had stopped taking it because of medical complications.
The tribunal even noted this fact, writing that Wiebe told them she “planned to stop hormone treatment because they did not like the facial hair it caused them to grow, and they no longer planned to change their gender.”
Regardless of this, in January, the tribunal ordered Olsen to pay $10,000 for “compensation for injury to [Wiebe’s] dignity, feelings, and self-respect.”
Campaign Life Coalition’s Pete Bakinski responded to the incident on X, writing, “Thankfully, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is stepping in to appeal the decision.”
🚨 Canadian woman fined $10K for privately warning female friend against transgender top surgery
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal imposed a $10,000 penalty on Kirstin Olsen for warning her female friend in a private conversation against getting transgender top… pic.twitter.com/PB80xNgZLG
— Pro-life Canadian Man (@PeteBaklinski) April 3, 2025
“What’s happening in Canada?” he questioned. “This is how Kangaroo courts operate. No wonder our country’s courts are losing respect.”