Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Mostyn and Mr. Marceau, for your testimony. I certainly agree with your presentations, that this bill is certainly a well-intentioned piece of legislation. I believe it closes a gap in the Criminal Code.
Both of you alluded to the fact that in recent years we have seen a string of incidents in which people have been targeted in not only their homes, their synagogues, and mosques, but also their schools and their community centres. We saw the fire bombing of the United Talmud Torah school in Montreal. We saw a few month ago in Ottawa a string of incidents that included two synagogues, as well as a mosque, but these incidents also included a Jewish teaching centre and the Ottawa Muslim Association.
The offences were motivated by the same hate. They were an attack on entire communities to perpetuate fear. The nature of the crimes that were committed at each of those sites was similar. Yet, depending on where certain acts of vandalism occurred, they may be subject to the general section or the specific section of the Criminal Code, with very different penalties—one up to a 10-year sentence, the other for up to two years. I certainly agree that there is an inconsistency and that this legislation would help close that inconsistency.
In the wording of proposed subsection 430(4.101), if you look at paragraph (a), it refers to a place of “religious worship—including a church, mosque, synagogue ”, and so on. But after that, if you look at paragraphs (b), (c), and (d), there is no mention of religion, so it's not necessarily limited to a religious education facility or a religious administrative building or community hall or a Muslim or Jewish seniors' residence, for example.
Do you have any thoughts on these three paragraphs and how they would expand coverage well beyond the existing purpose of the subsection related to religious property?