Advocacy groups were outside London City Hall, December 3rd, protesting against Bill C-9 or the proposed “Combating Hate Act”.
The Bill is aimed at protecting communities against hate related transgressions, but the groups say it can undermine the Canadian right to protest.
“The government says this bill is about addressing hate, but as written it risks doing the opposite,” said Samah Al Sabbagh, president of the Canadian Palestinian Social Association. She’s concerned that the bill will be “shrinking civil spaces and disproportionately targeting the very communities already facing heightened surveillance and policing.”
Reem Sultan with the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council was also at the gathering. Urging for the Canadian government to withdraw the bill, Sultan said “Bill C-9 undermines key legal protections that have long helped prevent discriminatory or politically motivated prosecutions. Under current law, hate propaganda charges require the consent of a provincial attorney general, as in part to ensure fairness, consistency, and oversight.
Bill C-9 had passed the second reading in the House of Commons. When passed the bill will “create an offence of wilfuly promoting hatred against any identifiable group by displaying certain symbols in a public space,” unless the symbol was used in the context of journalism, education, religion, art, or “if in good faith.”
In a joint statement sent to from 13 advocacy groups across Canada, including the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC), Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), and the United Church of Canada, they’re demanding for the federal government to “affirm the right to protest as a cornerstone of Canadian democracy” and to “Withdraw Bill C-9 in its entirety.”
