Toronto library bars hate groups from renting space
The Toronto Public Library board unanimously approved the staff recommendation on Monday night.

TheStar.com
Dec. 11, 2017
Samantha Beattie

The Toronto library board unanimously approved restrictions that will prevent groups from renting library space to promote discrimination or hate.

Library staff can now deny or cancel bookings they believe are “likely to promote, or would have the effect of promoting discrimination, contempt or hatred of any group, hatred for any person” based on race, ethnicity, colour, language, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, among other factors, according to a staff report.

“Be bold, be courageous. Reject hate, embrace diversity,” Bernie Farber, a former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, told the board during a meeting at the reference library on Monday night. “Your policy sends a very strong statement that the library will not be a comfortable living room for white supremacists.”

Representatives from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council echoed Farber’s comments of support, while self-proclaimed white nationalist Paul Fromm was visibly upset when the board voted in favour of the restrictions.

“I’m very disappointed the board has signed up for censorship and shut down views,” said Fromm, who is director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression.

Police were alerted ahead of what turned out to be a peaceful meeting as a “precaution, as we always do when there’s a potentially controversial situation,” said Ana-Maria Critchley, a library spokesperson.

The policy changes follow a memorial service last July for a lawyer whose clients included neo-Nazis and white nationalists, like Fromm, who organized the event, the report said. When staff found out about the third-party Richview branch booking, they immediately sought legal advice from the city.

In the end, the library was told it did not have legal grounds to deny the booking for the memorial service. About 20 people attended the service for Barbara Kulaszka “without incident,” said the report.

The event sparked public outrage, with library staff receiving and responding to 1,600 “predominately negative” emails and voice messages, the report said.

Afterward, the library sought legal advice, reviewed its community space rental protocol, considered feedback from the public and stakeholders and examined city policies, according to the report. The resulting changes aim to limit hate speech and put the library in sync with Toronto’s hate legislation.

They also make clear that violating the Criminal Code of Canada and Ontario Human Rights Code is unacceptable.

“Support for free speech does not translate into tolerance for hate speech,” the report said. “The public library is a welcoming, inclusive public space that supports the social justice principles of equity and inclusion and will always stand up against hate speech.”

Fromm argued that the library is a public space and should be accessible to everyone.

Farber disagreed. He said he considers room bookings different from hosting rallies or protests in public spaces such as Nathan Phillips Square where “there’s very often a clash of racists and anti-racists, and that’s the passion of free speech.”

“If groups that are clearly hate-mongers … rent a private room, there’s no balance whatsoever.”