Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Madam Lynch and Mr. Dufresne.
We heard the evidence of Mr. Levant the last time we dealt with this matter, and an awful lot of ground was covered. A lot of it was evidentiary and procedural. I would not call it without merit in terms of allegations, but in terms of proof I have no idea--and we have seven minutes.
So I think we need to have a broader discussion about the need--or not--for section 13. We need to have a broad debate on whether there is need to curtail freedom of expression of hate on the Internet. That is the discussion we must have as parliamentarians.
In a curious case of convergence, Mr. Levant seemed to argue that there might be room under the Criminal Code or a revamped human rights regime to protect people from violence that comes from hate. The convergence is with no less a figure than the President of the United States, President Obama. According to what we heard previously, he may be considering moving the United States toward human rights protections that are triggered by acts based on hate that go toward physical harm--violence, if you like.
What we have does not cover that at all. There is coverage for violence or threats of violence, but it's quite a bit short of that. It allows protection for hate, as defined by Justice Dickson in the Taylor case. The valid point is whether the words “extreme ill will” and “calumny”--I challenge anybody in the room to figure out what that actually means--are extreme in nature. We know what it means in essence, but are we not really left with Justice Dickson's words? Justice La Forest from New Brunswick put it very well in his review that we should leave judges to determine what hate crimes are and what hatred is.
But are we stuck with those words? Is there a chance that we need a new reference on the issue because those are older words from a court that was composed differently? When I see the Minister of Justice's legislative assistant in the room, I know that the composition of the Supreme Court is now probably going to become like an American process. We're going to try to figure out what person thinks the way we want about these issues, as a government per se. So it's a very important determination.
Do you think we should go toward what may be intended in the United States? Do you think we should stick with what we have? Do you think we need clarification of what Justice Dickson's words mean today?