ALCCA Endorses Private Member’s Bill Creating New Wilful Promotion of Terror Offence
- Mark Sandler
- Nov 18
- 3 min read
Conservative MP Roman Baber has introduced Bill C-257, a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Criminal Code of Canada, creating a new criminal offence of “Wilful Promotion of Terrorist Activity or a Terrorist Group.”
The new offence will make it illegal to communicate statements which wilfully promote a terrorist activity or a terrorist group. “Terrorist activity” and “terrorist group” are terms already defined by the Criminal Code.
As MP Baber explained in announcing the legislation: “Canada already criminalizes the aiding in and participation in terrorism. But there is no offence targeting the wilful promotion of terrorism. This gap allows extremists and recruiters to promote terrorism on Canada’s streets and online.”
As many of you know, I have been advocating publicly and privately for the creation of this offence for some time.
In my testimony before the House of Commons Justice and Human Rights examining Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, I said this:
“There is a significant omission in the legislation: namely, there is a need for creation of the offence of wilfully promoting terror activities or the activities of a terrorist group. I explain in my written submissions why such a provision would be fully compliant with the Charter, based on existing jurisprudence, and would focus not on which identifiable group is or is not targeted by hate speech, but on speech that supports violent terror activities, unprotected under the Charter.”
Thirty-four organizations have expressed their support for my submissions, including the creation of this new offence.
MP Baber is to be commended for introducing this legislation. It already has the support of many community organizations. In his outreach to key stakeholders, MP Baber kindly acknowledged the advice and assistance I provided during the development of the preliminary versions of this Bill – reflecting the constructive, non-partisan work that underpins our efforts.
When I testified before the House Committee, MP Baber also noted that I had been recommended by both Liberal and Conservative Committee members to provide expert criminal evidence on hate crimes. In that same non-partisan spirit, the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism and I urge the federal government and all political parties to support MP Baber’s freestanding legislation or agree to incorporate it into Bill C-9.
How You Can Support This
As subscribers who have followed and shared our explainers on Bill C-9, your engagement has helped elevate this issue nationally.
We ask that you continue to make an impact by contacting your Member of Parliament to express your support for the creation of this offence, or by sharing this update within your networks to build broader awareness.
Your voice strengthens the call for action, and we are grateful for your continued commitment to strengthening Canada’s response to hate-motivated and extremist activity.
For further inquiries on Bill C-257 or Bill C-9, please contact: info@alcca.ca.
About The Author
Mark Sandler, LL.B., LL.D. (honoris causa), ALCCA’s Chair, is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal lawyers and pro bono advocates. He has been involved in combatting antisemitism for over 40 years. He has lectured extensively on legal remedies to combat hate and has promoted respectful Muslim-Jewish, Sikh-Jewish and Black-Jewish dialogues. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees and in the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions on issues relating to antisemitism and hate activities. He is a former member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, a three-time elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, and recipient of the criminal profession’s highest honour, the G. Arthur Martin Medal, for his contributions to the administration of criminal justice.