By Hilary White
OTTAWA, January 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 7-2 that the federal government, that is Canadian taxpayers, do not have to fund a lawsuit levelled by a homosexual bookstore against Canada Customs.
Last April, the Supreme Court reserved its judgement in the case brought by Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium, a Vancouver retail shop specializing in gay porn, who were seeking public funding of about $2 million to pursue a complaint against Canada Customs. The bookstore complained that Customs was stopping its imported material at the border on the grounds that homosexual pornography, including sado-masochistic material, was obscene.
The decision likely puts an end to the battle, since Little Sisters has already said that without public funding it cannot proceed.
CTV reported that the Supreme Court ruled today that the case did not have the broad implications required to qualify for public funding. The bookstore had already claimed in court that homosexual pornography was good for Canada in general because it improved the self image of homosexuals.
Until the Tory win at last year’s election, the federal government funded much of the homosexual legal activism that has transformed the Canadian legislative landscape. It has enabled homosexual and radical feminist organizations to use lawsuits to render obsolete previously solid social and cultural institutions such as marriage.
The Conservative government, however, has effectively defunded the homosexual lobby movement by eliminating the Court Challenges Program (CCP), a government body set up under the Liberal government of Jean Chretien to help lobby groups pursue “equality” issues in the courts.
The store won a previous case in the Supreme Court in 2000, supported by the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE). They had intended to launch another suit against Customs, at taxpayer expense again, claiming it as a freedom of speech issue important to all Canadians.
The bookstore’s first legal battle, that cost over $500,000, was funded in part by EGALE Canada, long a recipient of tax funding through the CCP.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canadian Conservative Government Slashes Funding to Wasteful Anti-Family Programs
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092606.html
Canadian Government Funds Radical Homosexual Activist Organizations Through Court Challenges and Status of Women
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jun/04061405.html