Thank you very much.
Freedom of belief and assembly are essential to democracy. Intolerance attacks these freedoms by attempting to disrupt meetings of those who have come together to share and express their beliefs and to plan their realization. Right now there is a provision in the Criminal Code which defends Canadian democracy from this form of intolerance. The government now proposes to repeal this protection. Why it intends to do so is difficult to understand, both superficially and on closer examination.
When the Minister of Justice appeared before this committee she gave nine different justifications for the repeal of the provision, and I will address as many of them as I can within the time that's left.
First, she talked about the sentencing guidelines, but I point out that the relevant sentencing guideline deals with motivation. It does not deal with acts. Section 176 of the code deals with specific acts, which may or may not have the relevant motivation.
She referred to the Canadian Charter of Right and Freedoms, but the charter prevents certain behaviour by governments. It doesn't regulate the behaviour of the private sector.
She referred to gender neutrality, but the provision could be amended to allow for gender neutrality.
She referred to religious neutrality, but as we heard from a previous presenter, the language could be amended to allow for religious neutrality. Indeed, subsection 176(2) and subsection 176(3) are religiously neutral, and even neutral between the religious and the secular. Subsection 176(1) could be amended to also be neutral between the religious and the secular.
She said that the law should be removed because of its flaws, but the law could be changed to remove the flaws.
She referred to redundancy, but the claim of redundancy is not obvious. I can give an example. At the time of the second Gaza war in 2014, protesters in Europe made repeated attempts to disrupt synagogue services. Police did not lay charges. The incidents, if committed in Canada, would have been, in my view, plainly prosecutable under Criminal Code section 176, but once that provision is gone, would such incidents be prosecuted under more general provisions? We're not so sure.
The minister referred to the fact that this section has not been used frequently, but that doesn't mean it has been ineffective. On the contrary, infrequency of use may indicate effectiveness, and it does have, as we've heard, the value of allowing institutions to give warnings.
She said she doesn't expect an increase in incidents as a result of repeal of the law, but I would suggest that the specifics of her purpose, even when they are encompassed within generalities, focus our intention on what is wrongful behaviour and tell us specifically, without any doubt, to not do that. The public is better instructed—if you'll forgive my metaphor—with chapter and verse. Specifics give status. There's good reason to single out the wrong and disrupting either religious or secular meetings with a public-interest purpose. The Supreme Court of Canada itself has said about this section that it serves a value because disrupting this sort of meeting is injurious to the public interest.
Last, the minister talked about the opinion of experts, but the law is not only an instrument for academics, prosecutors, officials, and judges. It's the voice of the public and speaks to the public. The public tells us through the Criminal Code what is considered wrong. The Criminal Code tells all of us what should not be done.
Let me say a word about recommendations. As a community, we have an interest that religious services and public interest meetings can go ahead unimpeded by those who disagree. The ability of members of the public to meet for the public interest or religious purposes without interruption from those who disagree, has a value worth asserting separately. It should not be buried under a pile of generalities.
There are two alternative ways of achieving this result. One is to amend the present provision to remove its sexist, denominational, and even its religious focus to make the language gender and spiritually neutral. The other is to amplify the sentencing guidelines. If Section 176 were to disappear entirely on the basis of redundancy, then the substance of its content should be included in the sentencing guidelines. The behaviour identified in Section 176 is serious enough that, if not specifically penalized, it should be considered an aggravating circumstance justifying an increased sentence when the general offence under which it falls is committed. We so recommend.
Thank you very much.