ABBOTSFORD, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that the BC Human Rights Tribunal is being challenged before the BC Supreme Court for imposing a $10,000 penalty on private speech. In January 2025, the Tribunal fined British Columbian Kirstin Olsen $10,000 for privately expressing concerns about her friend’s decision. Her petition against the Tribunal was filed in the BC Supreme Court on March 21, 2025.
Kirstin Olsen and Theresa (Terry) Wiebe had been close friends for several years. Wiebe identifies as transgender.
From 2014 to 2018, Olsen allowed Wiebe to move a motorhome onto her property and live there. In 2017, Wiebe informed Olsen that she had begun hormone therapy and was planning to have a mastectomy. Wiebe asked Olsen if the surgery would impact their arrangement, but Olsen declined to give an answer. Based on concerns about her own mother’s breast cancer and mastectomy and the complications that could arise from such a surgery, Olsen told Wiebe that she was uncomfortable with Weibe getting a mastectomy and that she did not support the decision.
Olsen and Wiebe continued to be on friendly terms, and Olsen continued to allow Wiebe to live on her property for $200 per month. Olsen even paid for Wiebe to return to BC from the Yukon after Wiebe had been hospitalized due to what appeared at the time to be a complication from hormone therapy.
After Wiebe had gotten into a number of arguments with other people on Olsen’s property, however, Olsen asked Wiebe to leave in 2018. Olsen’s reasons for asking Wiebe to leave had nothing to do with Wiebe’s transition.
Soon after, Wiebe filed a discrimination complaint against Olsen with the BC Human Rights Tribunal. In January 2025, the Tribunal released its decision.
While the Tribunal found that the eviction was not related to Wiebe’s transgender identity, the Tribunal decided that Olsen’s comments expressing concern about the decision to get a mastectomy were discriminatory. For “injury to dignity,” the Tribunal ordered Olsen to pay Wiebe $10,000.
Nowhere in the decision did the Tribunal consider the impact of the fine on Olsen’s freedom of expression – protected by section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In her petition to the Court, Olsen also points out that her comments were not directed in any way toward Wiebe’s gender identity. On the contrary, Wiebe and Olsen had remained on friendly terms even while Wiebe had undergone a gender identity transition and hormone treatments.
“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,” stated constitutional lawyer Marty Moore. “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. The BC Human Rights Tribunal should focus on combatting genuine cases of discrimination rather than policing speech.”
