Understanding Bill C-9: Insights from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) Hearing
- Mark Sandler
- Oct 26
- 4 min read
This week, I was privileged to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to address its members on Bill C-9. As our readers know, I have welcomed some components of the legislation, although I identified areas of needed improvement if the legislation is to assist in combatting hatred.
Professors Deidre Butler and Cary Kogan of NECA provided the Committee with a sobering description of the staggering levels of antisemitism experienced by students and staff in Canada’s universities and colleges. Brandon Silver, Director of Policy and Projects, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, spoke powerfully about the prominent use of symbols to promote hate, and how words have so often been weaponized to incite violence, including of course, the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. We were well received by the Committee members.
MP Roman Baber kindly noted that my testimony had been requested both by the Conservatives and the Liberals on the Committee. One of the Committee’s Vice-Chairs, Mr. Fortin, also asked important questions about the prayer call for the extermination of all Zionists by an imam in Montreal. I agreed with his assessment that this call should have been charged and prosecuted as a hate crime, and debunked the potential defences raised on his behalf.
NECA, Raoul Wallenberg, and I were aligned on the commendable features of Bill C-9 and some of the improvements needed. A number of our member organizations have already indicated their support for the position taken in my written submissions to the Committee. That support will be conveyed to the Committee in the coming weeks.
One unsettling, though perhaps not surprising observation was that the Committee also heard from a representative of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation who admitted, in response to questions from the Committee, that she had never heard of the Brym Report documenting pervasive antisemitism in Ontario’s K-12 spaces. This spoke volumes to many of us in the room.
The full recording of this session can be seen below:
Inaccurate Information About Bill C-9
In my respectful view, certain inaccurate information about Bill C-9 has been circulating within our community. Here are my answers to four issues that have been raised:
1. Can this legislation be used against the Jewish community? My support for the legislation is conditional upon an amendment to retain the requirement for the Attorney General to consent to the three hate propaganda offences that presently require Attorney General consent at a minimum where individuals seek to lay charges privately against community members. If this provision is fixed so as to reduce the likelihood of frivolous or vexatious charges, the legislation will benefit our community and other communities also victimized by hate.
2. Does the legislation unduly limit free speech? The legislation must more carefully define “hatred” to conform precisely to the definition used by the Supreme Court of Canada to validate, as a reasonable limit on freedom of speech, the existing hate propaganda sections of the Criminal Code. The government has already indicated its willingness to address this issue which I raised in my submissions to the House Committee.
Some of those who claim that the legislation unduly limits free speech are rearguing points already settled by the Supreme Court of Canada. However, my recommended amendments address any lingering concerns.
3. Shouldn’t we mistrust police and therefore mistrust providing them with additional criminal law tools? ALCCA is training police across the country on the appropriate use of criminal law measures to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate. We are starting to see police using recommended criminal law tools to address hate, though those tools are still underutilized in some jurisdictions. However, the answer is not to abandon use of the criminal law, but to ensure through education and training and accountability of police services, their civilian oversight boards and municipal governments that the criminal law is appropriately used, and supported by policies adopted by municipal police service boards and municipalities.
4. Isn’t the real issue enforcement, not the adequacy of existing laws? I have repeatedly emphasized that the most significant issue we face is the failure to enforce existing laws. Contrary to some perceptions, we are seeing more charges now being laid, although the nature and number of charges remain inadequate. But issues around enforcement are not incompatible with improving existing laws, especially when senior police officers believe that these legislative changes are likely to empower them to give heightened attention and priority to hate-motivated crimes.
--
Call to Action: Help Inform Your Community
Bill C-9 is under active review in Parliament. Share our recent explainer, What Bill C-9 – the Combatting Hate Act – Means for You, which includes practical steps you and your community can take right now to support stronger protections against hate.
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.