Thank you very much, Madam Chair; and thanks to all our witnesses.
This is some of the most important testimony we've heard in this Parliament, and we deeply appreciate your coming forward today to speak.
I'm the sponsor of Bill C-229, the banning symbols of hate act. There has been some discussion around the legality or not of putting forward a Nazi-hooked cross, a Nazi flag, a Confederate flag or KKK symbols.
The genesis of the bill, in reaction to the rise in hate that we are seeing, is also the fact that one block from my constituency office, a store was openly selling Nazi paraphernalia—openly selling Nazi flags, Nazi emblems. When the City of New Westminster looked at how it could shut down this open sale and display of this appalling symbol of genocidal hate, the city was told that there are no laws against it.
In terms of other communities in Canada, in Summerland, British Columbia, the mayor was forced to go into a store selling Nazi paraphernalia, this appalling symbol of genocidal hate. The mayor bought the entire stock and burned it, and then the store owner went out and bought more.
To my mind, there is obviously a vacuum that needs to be filled. We have these appalling symbols that are openly displayed, even on Parliament Hill, a few steps away from the Hall of Honour where 40,000 Canadians are commemorated after having given their lives fighting Nazism, including my Uncle Patrick.
I believe this cannot continue.
My question is to Mr. Farber, Mr. Marceau, Ms. Kirzner-Roberts, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Brereton. Do you believe it is time now for Canada to act and follow the lead of other countries where there's a best practice banning these symbols of genocidal hate, of violent racism, of white supremacy, so that we very clearly say that this is illegal in this country, as it is in other countries?
I'll start with Mr. Farber.