Justice and Human Rights

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met to continue clause-by-clause study of Bill C-9, an anti-hate bill. Department of Justice officials Joanna Wells, Senior Counsel and Team Lead, and Chantele Ramcharan, Deputy Director General and General Counsel, both from the Criminal Law Policy Section, appeared to answer technical questions.

Joanna Wells explained that the proposed "for greater certainty" clause in Ms. Lattanzio's amendment is a common drafting technique intended to clarify the existing state of the law, not to change it. She stated that the clause responds to concerns that repealing the good-faith religious defence might capture good-faith religious statements, and it aims to clarify that the offence's scope does not include that type of expression unless it amounts to wilful promotion of hatred. She confirmed that Mr. Lawton's subamendment, which would delete the final condition about not wilfully promoting hatred, would change the substance of the proposal and state the law in a way it does not currently exist.

Chantele Ramcharan added that the "for greater certainty" clause reinforces the high threshold of the offence and must be read in conjunction with it. She noted that the phrase "public interest" is a broad concept, and the listed examples—educational, religious, political or scientific statements—are illustrative and not exhaustive. She responded to concerns about statutory construction by saying the clause provides examples of expressive activity within the public interest umbrella.

A procedural debate arose over the admissibility of Mr. Lawton's subamendment to Ms. Lattanzio's amendment. Anthony Housefather argued the subamendment was invalid because it would change the law and undermine the bill's intent to protect targeted groups, while Roman Baber countered that subamendments can properly delete portions of an amendment and that the concern was over substance, not procedure. The chair did not rule on the point before the meeting adjourned, and no votes were taken on the subamendment or the underlying amendment during this session.