The appellant theatre owner was convicted of presenting an obscene motion picture contrary to s. 163 of the Criminal Code.
At trial, the defence adduced evidence that the film had been approved by the provincial censor board as a restricted adult movie and had been shown to large audiences without complaint.
The trial judge convicted the appellant, finding the film obscene based on his own feelings of revulsion.
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, holding that the trial judge erred by applying his own subjective standards of taste rather than the objective community standard of tolerance.
The Court clarified that the test for 'undueness' under s. 159(8) is what the contemporary Canadian community will tolerate others seeing, not what individuals think is right for themselves.
