Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon, distinguished members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I am Richard Robertson, B'nai Brith Canada's director of research and advocacy. Our organization, which was established in 1875, is dedicated to eradicating racism and hatred in all of its forms and to championing the rights of the marginalized.
In exploring the protection of freedom of expression in Canada, this committee has the capacity to adopt recommendations that will ensure that the charter right to Canadians' freedom of expression is properly balanced and assessed in relation to other competing constitutional and quasi-constitutional rights. Such recommendations would accord with the spirit of the charter, align with the relevant jurisprudence and ensure that the Canadian public is sufficiently protected from new and emerging forms of hate.
Misunderstandings surrounding the limits of the charter freedoms have had a deleterious impact on Canada's Jewish community and have had a significant impact on the rise in anti-Semitic incidents currently plaguing our country.
In response to the unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism compromising the well-being of Canadian Jewry, B'nai Brith Canada recently launched its seven-point plan for combatting anti-Semitism. The relevant provisions of our plan form the basis of our recommendations, which will be further detailed in our forthcoming submission to the committee.
Our first recommendation is that the committee explore how the Criminal Code provisions that sanction hate speech can be amended in a manner that does not unduly infringe upon the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression in order to broaden the definition of hate speech to include modern forms of online and digital harassment.
Our second recommendation is that the committee explore how the Criminal Code can be amended in a manner that does not unduly infringe upon the constitutionally protected rights of Canadians to outlaw the display of the flags and emblems of listed terror entities. The display of such symbols undermines the efforts of Canadians to combat terrorism, both domestically and internationally.
Our third recommendation is that the committee explore the creation of legislation that creates a national prohibition on all rallies that glorify or promote hate speech, violence and extremism that is promulgated by listed terrorist entities, and that this legislation be adopted without compromising the constitutionally protected rights of Canadians. Such a prohibition would prevent the occurrence of rallies such as Al-Quds Day, an annual event that celebrates the actions of listed terror entities aligned with the Islamic regime in Iran. Such an event has no place in a society that values diversity, tolerance and the safety of all its citizens.
Freedoms are not absolute. The rights and freedoms enshrined in our charter were not designed to be absolute. Their existence should not prevent the federal government from amending or creating legislation to combat terrorism and to protect its citizens from racism and hatred. The existence of a rights regime that grants a right to freedom of expression cannot be utilized as a justification to sanction the dissemination of hate and the willful promotion and glorification of terror. Allowing this conflicts directly with the human rights and competing charter interests of the Canadians who suffer from such a callous interpretation and wanton abuse of our fundamental freedoms.
Thank you.