The Writers' Union of Canada has expressed its disappointment over Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada to deny Vancouver's Little Sister’s Bookstore the advance funding from Canada Customs it will need to pay its interim legal costs and continue its fight against the government’s book banning practices at the border.

"By denying that the issue of Canada Customs’ conduct is a matter of compelling public importance, the Supreme Court has missed the significance of Little Sisters’ long fight for freedom of expression," asserts Ron Brown, chair of the Writers' Union. "In 2000, this very court called on Canada Customs to halt some of its censorship practices, which it hasn't done, yet it denies the bookstore the ability to continue the fight against arbitrary censorship including the unfair targeting of Little Sister’s."

In 1990 Little Sister’s bookstore, a gay and lesbian bookstore in Vancouver, launched an action against Canada Customs with respect to its seizing books and magazines destined for the store — materials that Canada Customs claimed were "obscene." After years of delay, which some claim was intentional, the case eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada. Canada’s highest court decided that it was unconstitutional for the Customs Tariff to require the bookstore to prove that material was not obscene before it could be released and it struck down the section of the Customs Tariff that placed this “reverse onus” on the importer. It also found that there were systemic problems with the manner in which Canada Customs censored materials at the border.

In 2002 Little Sister’s took Customs back to court over subsequent book seizures and its failure to amend its practices following the Supreme Court 2000 decision. When the advance funding ordered by a lower court judge for this litigation was removed by the BC Court of Appeal, Little Sister’s appealed this funding issue to the Supreme Court of Canada.

"The practices of Canada Customs have continued unabated,” said Brown. "They have simply ignored the previous order of the Supreme Court regarding this. But now the court has basically told the bookstore, which has insufficient funds to continue, that its fight is over. Yet there remains an issue of free speech and censorship — a breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — about which we should all be very concerned and for which there is a real need for advance funding."

Canada Customs has had a long history of border book banning. In addition to preventing the importation of such books as Ulysses, Peyton Place, and Tropic of Cancer, Canada Customs embarrassed the Mulroney government when, in 1999, it was the only country on the western world to ban Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, a decision quickly reversed by Mulroney.

"With this Little Sister’s decision the Court has opened the door for Canada Customs to continue to flout the Court's own previous ruling, while making it nearly impossible for the small bookstore to fight 'Big Brother'" added Brown. "How ironical is it that this decision comes on the eve of this year's Freedom to Read Week." In 2003, the Union awarded the bookstore its annual Freedom to Read Award for its tenacity in its fight against Canada Customs.

The Writers' Union of Canada is our national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well being of all writers. For more information, visit www.writersunion.ca

For additional information
Deborah Windsor, Executive Director
The Writers’ Union of Canada
416. 703.8982 Ext. 221
dwindsor@writersunion.ca

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