ALCCA Chair in The Hill Times: Parliament Must Strengthen Bill C-9 to Stop Hate From Taking Root
- ALCCA Staff
- Jan 7
- 2 min read
ALCCA’s Chair, Mark Sandler, recently wrote an opinion piece in The Hill Times entitled It’s Parliament’s duty to get Bill C-9 right, and stop allowing hate to fester, focused on the federal government’s proposed Combatting Hate Act.
In the article, Sandler states that Jews continue to face the highest rates of religiously motivated hate of any group in Canada. He notes that the greatest number of police-reported hate crimes target Jews, and that Statistics Canada data shows antisemitic hate crimes have increased by nearly 75 per cent since 2022. He also notes that these incidents have continued even during periods of relative calm in the Middle East and references recent Canadian incidents, including vandalism of synagogues and Jewish institutions, theft of mezuzahs, and intimidation on university campuses.
Sandler acknowledges that Bill C-9 contains positive elements, including new offences related to intimidation and obstruction and the recognition of new hate offences when conventional crimes are motivated by hatred. However, he raises concern that the bill would repeal, unless amended, an existing Criminal Code mischief provision tied to vandalism motivated by “bias, prejudice, or hate” against places of worship and community institutions – an existing standard he argues can be easier to establish for an offence, unprotected by freedom of speech, than the higher threshold of “hatred.”
He also identifies a major omission from Bill C-9: the absence of an offence targeting the wilful promotion of terrorism. Sandler notes that while Canada already criminalizes aiding and participating in terrorism, there is no specific offence addressing those who wilfully promote terrorist groups or activities – a gap he argues has already been exploited by extremists and recruiters to glorify and incite terrorism, both online and in public spaces.
Sandler points to Roman Baber’s private member’s Bill C-257 as directly addressing this deficiency by prohibiting communications that wilfully promote terrorist activity or a terrorist group, using definitions already established in the Criminal Code. He emphasizes that this is not about limiting legitimate political speech, but about closing a loophole that allows violent extremism to hide behind claims of free expression. Sandler notes that 37 organizations, including the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, have endorsed this measure and urges Parliament to adopt it – either by incorporating it into Bill C-9 or advancing it as stand-alone legislation.
Sandler concludes that Bill C-9 represents a meaningful first step, but that it must be strengthened to truly meet the challenge of rising antisemitism and hate in Canada. Canada’s traditions of openness and inclusion, he argues, must no longer be undermined by hatred, intimidation, or violence. Parliament must get this right – because the cost of failing to do so is too high.
For readers seeking deeper context, ALCCA has assembled a comprehensive Bill C-9 Resource Hub featuring legal analysis, coalition positions, submissions, and parliamentary testimony on the proposed Combatting Hate Act.