Mr. Speaker, what are the Liberals doing? To those at home who still do not understand what is happening vis-à-vis this bill, let me provide them with a quick summary. It is going to be a professional summary.
The first thing the Liberals are doing is lowering the threshold for the definition of hatred. The Supreme Court has articulated the test for hatred in a case called Keegstra, 35 years ago. It was a good working definition. Now they are lowering the threshold to make it easier to convict for hate speech.
Second, the Liberals are eliminating the requirement prescribed in the Criminal Code for the Attorney General's consent in order to commence hate-related prosecutions. Of course, we have articulated a number of concerns with that. We could have private prosecutions that would be instituted by vexatious litigants potentially putting free speech at risk, especially with a lower threshold.
Further, the Liberals are creating a stand-alone, hate-motivated offence. What is interesting about that offence is that it does not just pertain solely to criminal conduct. Specifically, the language in the section provides that the stand-alone hatred offence can be predicated on any offence contrary to any federal statute. Therefore, one may have an offence under the Canada Labour Code or the Canada Elections Act, and if a prosecutor, perhaps a politically motivated prosecutor, believes it may have been motivated by hatred, then one could be subject to criminal prosecution for what is otherwise civil behaviour.
The Liberals take credit for and suggest that the new intimidation and access to facilities offence changes things. At the justice committee, we had an unbiased professional witness, Mark Sandler, one of the most celebrated criminal defence attorneys in this country, who was invited both by me and the Liberals. He said that the new access and intimidation offence does not do anything that is not already criminal under the Criminal Code. It is criminal to intimidate folks trying to enter their place of worship or school. It is criminal, certainly, to behave in a threatening fashion.