Thank you for that very important question.
The rise in hate absolutely needs to stop, and I think we all agree that it needs to stop.
There are two things I want to mention. I think, first and foremost, in Canada we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that actually protects people, and we have a right to peaceful protest. However, it should not and it must not cross the line into hate and intimidation. I think we all agree with that. I think that's fundamental to who we are as Canadians.
To your point around the piece around hate speech, we have our online harms legislation, which I'm sure this committee knows full well. That actually tackles some of the spread of hateful speech online as well as in the real world, which we know starts online and trickles into our communities. This is something tangible and I know my colleague, Minister Virani, is very much in touch with the Bloc and others to be able to move forward on this.
I do want to go back to one thing in particular. It has been a very difficult time for so many communities and we need to acknowledge the grief and pain, the anxiety and the fear, that the communities are feeling.
I also need to make sure that we also all understand, and I want to reiterate once again, that people have a right to peaceful protest and it should be peaceful.