Justice committee  Thank you. You've received our submission. This morning I'd like to provide a synopsis of CBA's concerns with Bill C-304 and reiterate our recommendations. The CBA has a keen interest in and supports the work and operation of not only the Canadian Human Rights Commission and t

Justice committee  Sure. I'd be happy to. As I articulated in my submission, the whole purpose behind the Human Rights Act , as Mr. Freiman has indicated, is to help improve societies and to help change the behaviour. It's also to correct the harm that has been done. Also, it provides the ability

Justice committee  This is not a pre-crime. This isn't a crime. This is a provision in the Human Rights Act to try to correct discriminatory behaviour that undermines the dignity and respect for every individual and undermines equality in our society.

Justice committee  I'm not suggesting any punishing, and that is entirely consistent with--

Justice committee  The major concern is that this kind of a speech can incite to hate. It has to be looked at objectively: it will reasonably incite people to hate or to show contempt for the specified group. That is the concern. There doesn't have to be a victim yet. The whole purpose of these p

Justice committee  It's not even sanctioning. This is about correcting an ill that is going on. This is about remedying a problem that could proliferate, that is being spread in society and could incite hatred and contempt.

Justice committee  That is not critical to this particular piece, no.

Justice committee  We've already seen a significant increase, and we've already heard that from other submissions, with the incredible increase of what is proliferated on websites and so forth. We can only expect that it will increase if continued to be left completely unchecked.

Justice committee  I think history is our best teacher to be able to answer that particular question. When hate messages are allowed to proliferate unchecked and without any accountability whatsoever, we see the effects—

Justice committee  Well, the Criminal Code, that's a whole other discussion. I have a question whether the Criminal Code can adequately keep in check a lot of the matters we're dealing with. Much of the speech is allowed unchecked, we would respectfully submit, without section 13.

Justice committee  The empirical data is shown throughout history.

Justice committee  We look at historical data and we do not ignore it. We do not allow history to repeat itself—

Justice committee  Well, I will simply respond to that in this way. The purpose of this act is to help prevent the discriminations, to help encourage equality and to foster tolerance. There is an educative element to the Human Rights Commission, to the Human Rights Tribunal, to help change these ki

Justice committee  I appreciate that.

Justice committee  It's not really a yes or no question.