Thank you, Ms. Sahota.
I think the question was what is my definition of a hate crime. As a lawyer, obviously I know that it can be a technical term. There are laws surrounding hate that are enshrined in the Criminal Code.
I know there are certain criticisms of the laws and the bars that have been set with respect to those laws, for example, the need for attorney general consent and those kinds of things. It can set high bars.
However, I don't really want to focus on the technical aspects of what amounts to a hate crime and the technical drafting and the language surrounding that. It's an important question to look into, but I leave that to the experts, who really practice in this area and can speak in a more educated way than I can.
What I do want to focus on is hate speech and the fact that words really matter. Words kill. We don't often think about that. As kids we grew up hearing, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” However, words hurt. We know that if we're not actively making efforts to ensure that the words that result in injury and death are not being used and are not proliferating and we do nothing to stop that, then it's just going to get worse. We see this happening.
I understand—again, as a lawyer—that there's freedom of expression and that it's a balancing act between free speech and regulating what people are able to say. However, as a society we've already understood and accepted that when it comes to certain types of speech, it is unacceptable and there's no place for it in society, because real harm is associated with those kinds of hateful speech.
Also, it's proliferating online in particular, where people can come out with a cloak of anonymity and feel free to be able to radicalize people and send out these messages of hatred that others are consuming. The other witness, Ms. Choudhry, referred to social media platforms. There is a place for government in all of this in regulating what's being allowed, what's being permitted and what we're allowing other Canadians and other people to consume and then to act upon. If there's a message here of what to take a productive focus on, or something that's critical to focus on and that needs further attention, it's regulating hate speech online.