In the 1970s, he established Samisdat Books, a publishing house, right in his Toronto residence, with the intent to disseminate Holocaust denial literature worldwide.

[2] The Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association brought forward a private prosecution against Zundel, which was suggested to the organization by former Crown attorney Robert McGee.

This section states that "[e]very one who wilfully publishes a statement, tale or news that he knows is false and causes or is likely to cause injury or mischief to a public interest is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment".

[4] Zündel was initially found guilty at trial before Justice Hugh Russell Locke and subsequently sentenced to fifteen months of imprisonment and three years of probation.

The panel composed of Chief Justice of Ontario William Goldwin Carrington Howland, and Justices John Watson Brooke, G. Arthur Martin, Maurice Norbert Lacourcière, and Lloyd William Houlden, ordered a new trial because of errors in the conduct of the trial, particularly regarding jury selection and misdirection on elements of the offence.

The Court thoroughly examined the book in question and determined that it "misrepresented the work of historians, misquoted witnesses, fabricated evidence, and cited non-existent authorities".

The second element of the test, the Court acknowledged that government action aimed at curbing such expression was undeniably present, given that section 181 sought to suppress this type of speech.

[11] In Justice McLachlin's perspective, the Court "cannot assign objectives, nor invent new ones according to the perceived current utility of the impugned provision".

[14] The dissent also found that section 181 had minimal impairment on freedom of expression as the Crown was required to prove the accused willfully published false materials, and the statement was likely to cause injury to the public interest.