The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-9, the government’s combatting hate crime legislation, and by Conservative attacks on the public safety minister over the gun buyback program and rising crime. The central political argument pitted the government’s claim that it is delivering on a promise to protect vulnerable communities against the opposition’s charge that the bill is flawed and that the government has failed to enforce existing laws.
Government Orders began with a motion on Business of Supply, which was interrupted by a point of order from Conservative MP Pat Kelly, who argued that a Liberal member had left the chamber before the vote was concluded and should have his vote disallowed. The member, Abdelhaq Sari, responded that the vote was finished, but other members disputed this. The Speaker later reminded members about the rules on props in the chamber. The main debate of the day was on Bill C-9, the combatting hate act, moved by Justice Minister Sean Fraser. The bill would create new Criminal Code offences for intimidating or obstructing access to places of worship, schools and cultural centres; create a stand-alone hate-motivated offence for any federal crime; codify a definition of “hatred” based on Supreme Court jurisprudence; remove the requirement for the Attorney General’s consent to lay hate propaganda charges; and ban the public display of symbols associated with hate or terrorism, such as the Nazi swastika and symbols of listed terrorist groups. The Liberals argued the bill was a necessary response to a sharp rise in police-reported hate crimes, particularly against Jewish, Muslim, Black and 2SLGBTQI+ communities. The Conservatives opposed the bill in its current form, arguing that the definition of “hatred” had been diluted by omitting the word “extreme” from the Supreme Court’s language, that removing Attorney General consent would open the door to vexatious private prosecutions, and that the government should first enforce existing laws. The Bloc Québécois indicated it was open to studying the bill in committee but wanted to amend it to remove the religious exemption for hate speech, a change the minister said he was open to. The Green Party also questioned the new definition of hatred. Debate continued for 82 speeches and was not concluded.
Oral Questions was dominated by two themes. The first was the government’s gun buyback program and public safety. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and other Conservatives repeatedly called for the firing of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, citing leaked audio in which the minister allegedly called the program a “politically motivated scam.” The Conservatives argued the $750-million program wasted money that could go to border security and police, and that it targeted hunters and farmers while gun crime rose. The Prime Minister and other ministers defended the program as a fair compensation scheme for prohibited assault-style weapons and pointed to new investments in border officers and RCMP. The second theme was the cost of living and food prices. Conservatives cited rising food bank use and food inflation, accusing the Prime Minister of breaking his promise to be judged by grocery prices. Liberal ministers countered by listing their own measures: tax cuts for 22 million Canadians, the national school food program, dental care and child care, and noted that Conservatives had voted against each of those programs.