Evidence of meeting #146 for Justice and Human Rights in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:05 a.m.
President, World Sikh Organization of Canada
We made two separate suggestions for immediate legislation. We do believe that the government has a role in countering the proliferation of online hate material.
We think it would be useful to study Germany's network enforcement law act. Specifically, this law looks at social media providers with two million users or more, and provides instructions on how material that's reported must be removed within certain timelines. There are also penalties for companies that do not comply with the laws.
We also think that the Criminal Code, section 320.1, provides enough options for law enforcement to actually enforce the code, but it's rarely used. We would encourage that to perhaps be used more often.
Thank you.
10:10 a.m.
President, Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario
I agree with all of the above. I just want to add that for us to be successful in regard to any legislation that comes into place, we need to ensure that it has some community input. What I mean by that is that we should all know what is going into that legislation. Therefore, we can be the ambassadors of the law, to make sure communities are very much aware of their rights, in regard to the legislation. That would be my take on this.
Sometimes legislation is there, but people don't understand or even know their rights. We need to make sure that there is community input with any legislation, and at the same time, that we are empowered to share this with our communities.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
Thank you, all.
There's a bit of a sense of urgency, given that we're up against the election coming this year. There have already been warnings about the play of anti-immigrant sentiment and white nationalism in the election process. We see this on the rise in Canada. It's extremely concerning, across our country.
Mr. Singh, you mentioned the anonymity that exists online. The Globe and Mail did an article this week that was shocking. It's about an app called Discord—I'd never even heard of it—following a white nationalist group that was arming itself, meeting and training. This is extremely disturbing.
Given that we're up against this kind of deadline, how important is it for us to act before the end of this Parliament, which we're quickly running out of runway on. Can you speak to the urgency to protect Canadians and the communities that you represent?
10:10 a.m.
President, World Sikh Organization of Canada
Thank you, Ms. Ramsey.
I would support haste in the timeline. I would think that for the community itself, there is definite concern about the perceived threat it faces.
I mentioned the case with the Surrey Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan. There's a sense of questioning from the community. What do we do next year when we get together? With the elections coming up, there is that sense of fear that this is only going to ramp up. We would definitely encourage something to be proposed before the end of this sitting.
Thank you.
10:10 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Definitely, I support that, regardless of an election. I think that divisive.... You know, the opportunity for this hate crime online is only going to divide our country. It's not going to uphold our values of diversity and inclusion, regardless of government or election.
I think we need to forge ahead to ensure that hate crimes, whether online or not, have no place in Canada, or anywhere else.
10:10 a.m.
President, Ghanaian-Canadian Association of Ontario
Yes, I think there is some urgency. What I mean by “some urgency” is that if you look at the stats on what is happening right now, this is something that is going on at a rapid pace. People are losing their lives. In fact, we cannot even say that in Canada we're immune. For us not to be proactive and not to do this as a matter of urgency, we definitely will be missing a huge opportunity.
My take on this is that I would recommend that this Parliament do something before the end of the session. I think there is some urgency to this, really.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Anthony Housefather
Thank you to all the members of the panel. We're really sorry to have abbreviated the questions. Unfortunately, we have a vote, but thank you. You were really helpful.
The meeting is adjourned.
