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It recommended that Parliament enact legislation to combat hate speech and genocide. The Pearson government promptly introduced the legislation, proposing three new offences: advocating genocide; publicly inciting hatred in a way likely to lead to a breach of the peace ; and wilfully promoting hatred.
Hate speech is proscribed in Canada by the Criminal Code and, in three provinces, by human rights acts. 1. Criminal Code. The relevant sections of the Criminal Code say: Public incitement of hatred.
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Canadians expect to be safe and free from hate speech and hate crimes, online and offline. The Government of Canada is committed to keeping all Canadians safe, while also protecting their rights and freedoms.
June 23, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Justice Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage and Public Safety Canada
Canadians expect to be safe and free from hate speech and hate crimes, online and offline. The Government of Canada is committed to keeping all Canadians safe, while also protecting their rights and freedoms.
Today, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, along with the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced actions the Government of Canada is taking to better protect Canadians from hate speech and online harms.
As part of this approach, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Too many people and communities in Canada are harmed and victimized by hate speech, which is often amplified and spread online. Online hate can turn into offline hate with devastating impacts on communities and families. We have a responsibility to victims to take action to combat hate online and continue to build a more inclusive Canada.
“Canadians expect their government to take action against hate speech and hate crimes. These legislative changes would improve the remedies available to victims of hate speech and hate crimes, and would hold individuals accountable. The actions we are taking today will help protect the vulnerable, empower those who are victimized and hold individuals to account for the hatred they spread online.”
The Honourable David Lametti, P.C. Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
“Online platforms are central to participation in public life and have enormous power over online speech and Canadians’ everyday lives. While they allow us as Canadians to stay in touch with loved ones, learn and debate, they can also be used to discriminate, harm and silence. In consultation with Canadians, the Government of Canada is committed to taking action to put in place a robust, fair and consistent legislative and regulatory framework on the most egregious and reprehensible types of harmful content. This is why we will engage Canadians in the coming weeks to ask for feedback on specific, concrete proposals that will form the basis of legislation.”
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Canadian Heritage
•The bill addresses recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in its 2019 report, Taking Action to End Online Hate. It also addresses comments heard during community consultations to inform Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy.
The Government of Canada took action to address discrimination and hate both online and offline by signing the Christchurch Call to Action and the release of Canada’s Digital Charter.
According to data released in March 2021 by Statistics Canada, in 2019, police reported 1,946 criminal incidents in Canada that were motivated by hate, an increase of 7% or 129 more incidents than were reported the previous year.
Between 2018 and 2019, the number of police-reported crimes motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity increased 10%. This increase was largely a result of more hate crimes targeting the Black and Arab or West Asian populations.
In 2017, the number of hate crimes increased markedly by 47% and has remained at comparable levels in 2018 and 2019.
A 2020 study conducted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue Global concluded that Canadians were using more than 6,600 online channels, pages, groups and accounts across several social media platforms to spread white supremacist, misogynistic or other extremist views.
•Combatting hate speech and hate crimes: Proposed legislative changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code
Jun 29, 2018 · Although Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights 1 proclaims that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, many countries have laws that censor or limit certain types of expression, including speech that incites violence and hatred.
May 14, 2024 · The Trudeau regime has introduced an Orwellian new law called the Online Harms Bill C-63, which will give police the power to retroactively search the Internet for "hate speech"...
Hate speech is “discriminatory” (biased, bigoted or intolerant) or “pejorative” (prejudiced, contemptuous or demeaning) of an individual or group. Hate speech calls out real or perceived ...
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Why is hate speech a problem in Canada?
Laws against hate speech can be divided into two types: those intended to preserve public order and those intended to protect human dignity. The laws designed to protect public order require that a higher threshold be violated, so they are not often enforced.
