Sameha Omer

The plaintiffs previously obtained a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendant from publishing defamatory statements about them.

The defendant was subsequently found in contempt of court for six separate breaches of the injunction by broadcasting hateful and defamatory statements.

At the sentencing hearing, the court considered the defendant's complete lack of remorse, his ongoing attacks on the rule of law, and the hate-motivated nature of the breaches.

The court sentenced the defendant to 18 months in prison, consisting of three consecutive months for each of the six acts of contempt.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) moved to intervene as a friend of the court in the sentencing hearing of the defendant for contempt of court.

The court declined to add NCCM as an intervenor under Rule 13.02, noting the lack of precedent for public interest intervenors in criminal or contempt sentencing at first instance, and that the plaintiff had already raised the contextual arguments NCCM proposed to make.

However, recognizing NCCM's unique position to speak on the harm suffered by the Canadian Muslim community, the court authorized NCCM to file a Community Impact Statement by analogy to s. 722.2(1) of the Criminal Code.