MONTREAL — Following the Federal Justice Minister’s decision to separate Parts 2 and 3 from the rest of Bill C-63, Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, made the following statement:
We welcome the federal Justice Minister’s decision to allow Part 1 of Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, to benefit from the focused scrutiny it deserves. It is crucial that this new Act, which proposes to regulate online content, now be the subject of a broad public and parliamentary conversation.
By separating Parts 2 and 3 from the rest of the Bill, the Justice Minister accedes to civil society’s call to split the bill so controversial changes to the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act do not overshadow Part 1.
The amendment to the Criminal Code introducing the possibility of life imprisonment for any offence motivated by hatred would pave the way to disproportionate sentencing, a chilling effect on free speech, and an unwarranted increase in plea bargaining from innocent and vulnerable defendants. The proposed “fear of hate propaganda offence or hate crime” provision would allow a judge to limit the liberty and expression of individuals who are not even suspected of having committed any crime, let alone convicted.
As for the amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act, they would be improper and ineffective to address the issue of hate speech in our modern society, as they would flood with complaints human rights bodies that are already chronically under resourced.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
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