I know there is support. It's just a matter of making this a priority, and when we see the state of the world before us, I do believe that now is the time for us to do this in this country. This is a serious discussion that we should be having. How do we consolidate our approach against hate, whether that's with the Criminal Code or the other resources we have?
We know that across Canada there are great models of hate crime units. Some are focused within police services while others have coordination provincially, but do we have that nationally as well?
I think a lot of what happens is that we shift that off into forms of extremism and terrorism, but we're talking about how hate and terrorism can be and are different things. They can be related, but they can also be very separate as well. When we talk about hate, we're often talking about targeting vulnerable individuals. When we're talking about terrorism, we're talking about entire classes or groups of people as well.
I believe this legislation is important. I believe it's a step in the right direction. I think it's a conversation that we need to strongly carry forward.