''An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda)'', also known as ''Bill C-250'' during the second and third sessions of the

37th Canadian parliament The 37th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 29, 2001, until May 23, 2004. The membership was set by the 2000 federal election on November 27, 2000, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was diss ...

, originated in a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Private Member's Bill to amend the ''Criminal Code''. It added penalties for publicly inciting hatred against or encouraging the genocide of people on the basis of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

and added a defence for the expression of good-faith opinions based on religious texts.

Content

Prior to this amendment, the Criminal Code prohibited the promotion of genocide and the public incitement of hatred against groups identifiable by

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, and

ethnic origin An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

. The ''Act'' expanded coverage of these existing provisions to include groups identifiable on the basis of

. The ''Act'' also expanded one of the defences available to persons charged with the incitement of hatred, allowing for the expression of good-faith opinions based on religious texts, in addition to the preexisting defence allowing the good-faith expression of opinions on religious subjects.

Legislative history

C-250 was first introduced in 2001 into the 37th Parliament, 1st Session as Bill C-415 by New Democratic MP

Svend Robinson Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, who represented suburban Vancouver-area constituencies of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He is noted as the first me ...

. Following the end of that session, the bill was reintroduced as C-250 in the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. It passed the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

on September 17, 2003, but was not passed by the Senate before the end of the session. The bill was again reintroduced in the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session, passing both the House and Senate. Royal Assent was granted on April 29, 2004. :a. List of senators in the 37th Parliament of Canada, These senators have decided against joining the Conservative Party of Canada and have chosen to sit in the Senate as 'Progressive Conservatives' (with Mira Spivak briefly joining the Conservative caucus before becoming an Independent). As with all Canadian legislation, this act has equal force in French language, French in which it is called ''La Loi modifiant le Code criminel (propagande haineuse)''.

Religious freedom concerns

Critics of the bill claimed that it would prohibit reciting various scripture condemning

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, while supporters pointed out that the bill added an explicit defence against any charge of incitement of hatred for opinions expressed in good faith based on religious texts. Critics of the law however, have expressed concern the courts will abrogate the religious loophole because "good faith" is not clearly defined.

References

External links

Text of Bill C-250, in English and French

{{DEFAULTSORT:Act to amend the Criminal Code Canadian federal legislation LGBT law in Canada 37th Canadian Parliament 2003 in LGBT history Canadian criminal law 2003 in Canadian law