Insulting police online banned by Granby, Que., bylaw

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Insulting a police officer or municipal official on the internet has been made illegal in the town of Granby, Que., after the council voted unanimously tonight in favour of beefing up an already controversial bylaw.

In Granby — a town situated about 80 kilometres east of Montreal — it was already illegal to insult a police officer and other municipal officials​. Offenders could face fines ranging from $100 to as high as $1,000.

Tonight, the town council strengthened that bylaw to include online insults.

"In my opinion, if I threaten you via my keyboard, it's as though I am making that threat right in front of you.… For me, it's the same thing," said Robert Riel, Granby's deputy mayor.

The move comes after town officials discovered a Facebook page called Les policiers zélé de Granby — The Zealous Police of Granby.

Julius Grey, a constitutional lawyer, said the bylaw is an attack on freedom of speech.

"What you're going to be having is a trial of speech every time a municipal employee or a policemen considers himself insulted. I think this is absolutely terrible," Grey said.

"I don't think it'll stand up — I hope it doesn't stand up — to judicial review. I hope it gets struck as soon as someone is charged under it."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/insulting-police-online-banned-by-granby-que-bylaw-1.3061023

[niyad]

1. hey, robbie boy, get a dictionary. "insulting" and "threatening" are two entirely different words.

[Thor_MN]

2. Well, now the entire world can laugh at them. And there's not much they can do about it.

Other than attempting to go after Granby residents that insult them, they have zero ability to enforce such a ridiculous law. And they would have to prove that it was actually a Granby resident that insulted them. I would think. Are they going to do a full on investigation to prove that the insult was made from within Granby, that a person didn't duck over to Waterloo and use a public WiFi to make the post?