Thank you, Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is DeRico Symonds. I'm an eighth-generation African Nova Scotian, and the director of engagement and justice initiatives at the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute, or ANSJI, rooted in Nova Scotia. ANSJI was established to confront systemic injustice and anti-Black racism. It advances justice reform, supports victims of hate and discrimination, and promotes equitable, inclusive institutions and safe communities across Nova Scotia and Canada.
We recognize Bill C-9, the combatting hate act, as an important step towards updating the Criminal Code to better protect vulnerable communities. It acknowledges the rise in hate crimes and the need for stronger legal protection, yet the bill's current framework is too narrow.
I want to draw attention to its major gaps for Black Canadians—its terrorism-centric approach to hate symbols. The bill omits the noose, one of the most recognized symbols of anti-Black terror. The noose evokes centuries of racial violence. It continues to appear today in schools, workplaces and public institutions, and it is used to intimidate and silence Black Canadians.
Additionally, it is our belief that the Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK, also meets the Criminal Code definition of a terrorist entity. Its actions—lynchings, bombings, cross burnings—were designed to intimidate the public through violence motivated by white supremacist ideology. Its influence continues to surface in extremist movements and hate crimes today. Excluding the KKK, while listing its ideological successors, creates a gap that undermines both moral and legal coherence.
Recent incidents in Nova Scotia show that this hate is not history but reality. In 2024, individuals wore a KKK costume to a Halloween gathering in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. In 2023, two teenagers in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia were charged after waving a noose at a Black family. In 2020, a sign reading “Redneck Hangout” with an image of a noose was found in Queens County, Nova Scotia. In 2019, footage I observed documented KKK recruitment activity occurring in a Halifax, Nova Scotia workplace. These are reminders from Nova Scotia that anti-Black racial terror persists in Canada.
Bill C-9's consideration of amendments to remove or to limit the Attorney General's signing authority in hate-related designations poses risks for Black communities. The Attorney General serves as a constitutional safeguard, ensuring that prosecutions and designations are guided by public interest and ministerial accountability. Removing this oversight would decentralize discretion to police and Crown agencies—institutions that have well-documented histories of systemic racial bias.
In Nova Scotia, the Wortley report of 2019 confirmed that Black residents were six times more likely than white residents to be street-checked by police. In such contexts, shifting unchecked discretion to frontline enforcement could only reproduce systemic harm, not prevent it. According to the Department of Justice Canada, “In 2022, police-reported hate crimes motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity increased by 12%, whereas the percentage of hate crimes specifically targeting the Black community increased by 28% (more than [double]).”
Without AG oversight, decisions to investigate or to prosecute under hate-related provisions could occur without sufficient checks and balances, risking further marginalization of communities that are already overpoliced and feeling underprotected.
To close, I respectfully submit four recommendations.
The first is to expand the definition of prohibited hate symbols to include the noose and the KKK insignia, such as a white pointed hood and a burning cross.
The second is to list the KKK as a terrorist organization under section 83.05.
The third is to establish independent community advisory panels to work alongside Attorney General oversight. These panels can ensure that decisions about hate symbols, terrorist entities and hate-related acts are informed by those with lived experience, as well as by experts and academia, and that they're not made solely with government or law enforcement frameworks. Conceivably, it would be something similar to the cross-cultural round table on security.
The fourth is to have meaningful consultation with Black communities and organizations when developing a more inclusive list of prohibited symbols and terrorist entities.
Ultimately, a meaningful combatting hate act must confront hate in all its manifestations, including the intimidation of Black Canadians, which we still experience today. ANSJI looks forward to collaborating with Parliament, and with all parties and partners, to strengthen this bill and to promote genuine community safety and justice.
Thank you.