Justice minister says he wants to see forthcoming hate crime bill passed quickly

OTTAWA — As Justice Minister Sean Fraser prepares to table his bill to legislate against the obstruction of places of worship, schools, and community centres, he says he wants to see it passed quickly. 

That bill, which would fulfil commitments made in the Liberal platform, is expected to be tabled this week , making it the first major piece of legislation to be introduced by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals since returning for the fall sitting of Parliament. 

While Fraser says he has not initiated conversations with other parties to see it pass the House of Commons by unanimous consent, as was the case when the Liberals passed their last bail reform package back in 2023 under his predecessor, former justice minister Arif Virani, Fraser says he would “invite” conversations to happen between House leadership.

“My goal here is to have the expeditious passage of the legislation,” he told reporters on his way into the Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday.

“Should parliamentarians wish to engage in a meaningful debate — I think it’s important that they’re given the opportunity to voice the concerns of their community, and I wouldn’t want to shortcut that process. However, if everyone in the House accepts that this is the right path forward, I don’t see need to delay unnecessarily when we know hate is such an important issue to address.”

Fraser pointed to the rise in hate-related violence across the country, which police services report has only increased since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel and its ensuing war with Hamas.

Jewish leaders and groups have specifically called for the federal government to create “safe access zones” or “bubble zones” around places of worship, schools and community centres, citing the frequency of protests and other violence against such places.

The federal government has also found itself on the receiving end of criticism from several prominent groups calling for more action from officials to stem the reported rise in antisemitism.

Melissa Lantsman, a deputy leader of the Conservatives, said in a statement that the party will assess the legislation once it is tabled, but says the Liberals have been guilty of inaction while the Conservatives have spent the past two years proposing ways to keep places of worship and those inside safe.

“ No one should be afraid to worship in peace, but that is exactly what the Liberal government has allowed over the last (two) years of their inaction while our communities called out for help,” she said on Wednesday. 

“ Conservatives will always stand to protect all Canadians from religious discrimination and violence.”

Civil liberties groups have challenged jurisdictions that have enacted similar measures to the ones Fraser is preparing to introduce, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association launching a Charter challenge over a Vaughan by-law, calling it an “anti-protest law,” saying non-violent protests were a function of democracy.

Fraser says that Ottawa is operating on guidance from the Supreme Court of Canada when it comes to approaching discussions regarding “hate-oriented crime” and “the right to free expression.”

“We think we’ve done a good job to specifically accommodate Canadians’ right to free expression,” he said on Wednesday.

Toronto Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith told reporters the “devils in the details” of the forthcoming bill and that the government is right to move on ways to combat antisemitism.

“As parliamentarians, we’ve got to do our work and to review that legislation, to provide that accountability function and to approve it where we can, and we’ve got to make sure we strike the appropriate balance between protecting free speech and protecting people’s safety and accessing and attending faith services. I think we can do that.”

Besides making it an offence to “intentionally and wilfully obstruct” places of worship, schools and community centres, the Liberals in their platform also promised to make it a crime to “intentionally and wilfully” threaten those attending these locations.

Fraser also signalled on Tuesday that the Liberals intend to go further than what the platform committed to when it comes to addressing hate.

The minister has left the door open to possibly including some of the provisions contained in the since-defeated Online Harms Act, which the Liberals failed to see passed before the spring federal election.

Those included allowing human rights complaints to be filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission based on hate speech and introducing harsher punishments for hate-related offences. It also proposed creating a new peace bond to deter individuals from committing a possible hate crime, the circumstances of which would be determined by a court. 

At the time, civil liberties groups, academics, and the Opposition Conservatives roundly criticized the measures as infringing on free speech.

Legislating against the obstruction of places of worship and schools is one of the three bills Fraser plans to introduce this sitting. Next month, he says, the government will introduce a package of reforms to the bail and sentencing system, which would be followed by a series of changes to better protect against intimate partner violence and children from crimes online.

National Post

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