MPs want to criminalize the display of hate symbols

(Ottawa) Should it be a crime to fly a Nazi or Confederate flag in Canada? An NDP MP reintroduced a bill to make it so, and dozens of elected officials and senators backed a statement calling for it.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

Images of Confederate flags and at least one Nazi flag on Parliament Hill last Saturday left Liberal Greg Fergus upset. He was outraged that these people had “the nerve to bring these symbols of hate here, to the cradle of our democracy”.

The caucus of black parliamentarians, which he co-chairs, called on Friday for a ban on the “public display” of these flags, which “have no place in our public spaces” because there is ” no reasonable reason” to flaunt it.

“Canada and its people must constantly reject these symbols. We call on the Government of Canada to show leadership in ending the use of hate symbols in public,” the caucus statement read.

For now, the position is “more popular among some political parties than others,” said Fergus in an interview. Then he stops. “I don’t want to politicize this. […]. We are trying to do our best to rally the official opposition. »

He says he welcomes the private member’s bill introduced Thursday by Peter Julian of the New Democratic Party. “I think we can work with that,” said the Hull–Aylmer elected official about legislative measure C-229.

The British Columbia MP introduced it in the last Parliament, in reaction to the indignation of some of his constituents who were shocked to see a business in his riding selling Nazi flags.

“With what happened last week [sur la colline]I was asked if I was going to table the bill again, and I decided to do it, ”he explains, saying that he is crossing his fingers in the hope of a progress – and of an adoption – fast.

And discussions with colleagues from other parties are “positive”, says Peter Julian.

The Conservative Party was unable to comment on Friday. On the side of the Bloc Québécois, it was said that the bill was “under study”, without further details.

Bill to be perfected

In its current version, C-229 would probably not pass the test of the courts in Canada, believes Pierre Trudel, full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal.

“What we are trying to criminalize here is the mere fact of exposing [ces symboles]. It would be liable to prosecution, so that the person defends himself. But it’s not a detail, going to defend yourself in court, ”he underlines.

It is already prohibited by the Criminal Code to make hate propaganda in Canada, and therefore, “in the current state of jurisprudence, it probably goes much too far,” says Professor Trudel.

“You always have to assess whether this is a reasonable limit on freedom of expression,” he says.

Adopting a law criminalizing the use of these symbols would however be desirable, believes Benoît Pelletier, professor of law at the University of Ottawa. “It seems to me that it is in the societal interest,” he argues.

That said, Bill C-229 is “imprecise” and “should be reworked,” he believes. For example, it does not contain enough exceptions. “At the same time, I find it interesting,” said the former Quebec minister.

Especially since “jurisprudence tends to be conciliatory with regard to the choices of the legislator to fight against hate speech,” adds Mr. Pelletier on the other end of the line.

Many private members’ bills go nowhere. Worn by simple deputies, whether they are in the party forming the government or not, they are rarely adopted.