Overview

• The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the bill’s intimidation offence is broader than existing law and could criminalize protests viewed as disruptive.
• The BC Civil Liberties Association calls the plan an attack on free expression and warns of a chilling effect on dissent outside community and religious sites.
• Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the legislation safeguards Canadians’ ability to take part in peaceful protests.
• The bill creates new obstruction and intimidation crimes to protect places of worship and institutions such as schools, daycares, and seniors’ residences, adds an offence for wilfully promoting hate through symbols, and layers a new hate-crime category onto existing offences.
• The proposal carries a maximum 10-year sentence, does not establish protest “bubble zones,” and would codify the Supreme Court’s definition of hate, which one law professor says raises implementation questions.