Source: Canadian Jewish News | October 25, 2001

Anti-terrorism bill takes aim at hate propaganda

By Paul Lungen

TORONTO - Canada will beef up its provisions against hate propaganda as part of an anti-terrorism package introduced last week by the federal government.

The measures, included as part of the government's omnibus anti-terrorism bill, will give courts power to order the deletion of publicly available hate propaganda from computer systems, would create a new offense of hate-motivated mischief against places of worship and would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) to explicitly prohibit the dissemination of hatred or discrimination on the Internet.

Canadian Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre applauded the provisions, though the two organizations were divided on other government proposals that would give law enforcement the authority to detain terrorism suspects and compel witnesses to testify in special hearings.

The broader anti-terrorism bill tabled last week was introduced in the wake of the unprecedented attacks in New York and Washington that killed as many as 6,000 people.

"The horrific events of Sept. 11 remind us that we must continue to work with other nations to confront terrorism and ensure the full force of Canadian law is brought to bear against those who support, plan and carry out acts of terror - we cut off their money, find them and punish them," said Justice Minister Anne McLellan.

The proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, which has come under fire from human rights advocates for giving law enforcement too many new powers, would:

Though they agreed on the bulk of the proposals in the omnibus bill, Congress and the Wiesenthal Centre parted company on support for the latter two proposals. Congress president Keith Landy said given the current climate of fear and unease, it is reasonable to temporarily tilt the balance between enhanced security and individual liberties towards security and safety.

Leo Adler, director of national affairs for the Wiesenthal Centre, said law enforcement agencies do not need the extra powers conferred on them by the bill. "With a little bit of fine tuning [of existing powers], they could accomplish whatever intention they have in the proposed legislation."

Canadian society has been subjected to numerous instances of criminal violence and "the Criminal Code does not require a material witness to be held in custody and I'm not sure we need that now," Adler said.

He also questioned the need to hold terrorism suspects for three days without police laying charges. Under current law, police must charge a criminal suspect within 24 hours, though they can hold him for a further three days without bail while they gather more evidence.

Landy said Congress' position is based on its reading of the mood of the Jewish community across Canada, which, like the broader community, is experiencing "tremendous alarm and fear." Attendance during recent High Holy Day services was down overall as people retreated to the safety of their homes, he pointed out.

"These are extraordinary times so it's desirable to give police a wider discretion and wider powers to investigate those who would harm our liberty and our democracy," he said.

At the same time, he continued, "we don't want to become a police state...There has to be a balance that is struck and sometimes the balance should be more in favour of safety and security versus individual liberties. "I think it should be reviewed on a periodic basis to test the temperature of our society to see if the legislation mirrors the level of comfort in our society."

Both leaders applauded the bill's proposals on hate propaganda.

Though focused primarily on anti-terrorism, the bill includes provisions on hate propaganda as part of its goal of "providing greater protection for all Canadians," said Lisette Lafontaine, senior counsel with the Department of Justice.

"It recognizes that hate against religion is the same as the hate [demonstrated] by those involved on Sept. 11" It also recognizes the need to protect groups from hate that may have increased in the wake of recent events, she said.

Amendments to the hate propaganda provisions of the Criminal Code were being contemplated in another government bill long before Sept. 11. In the aftermath of last month's terrorist attacks, the provisions were folded into Bill C-36, the anti-terrorism legislation, Lafontaine said.

Under the terms of the bill, anyone convicted of mischief, such as vandalism, against a house of worship could be liable to 10 years imprisonment if convicted on indictment and 18 months if convicted on summary conviction.

A second part of the bill would give courts power to order Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to remove hate materials from their servers. The provincial attorney-general would have to consent to a prosecution prior to bringing the case to court, Lafontaine said.

"It would parallel in cyber-space the powers a court has in the paper world," she said.

A further provision of the anti-terrorism bill would amend the CHRA to prohibit the distribution of hate materials through the Internet or any inter-connected computer network (including a private network). The CHRA as it now stands prohibits the dissemination of such material through telephonic communications. Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel, who runs a Web site that allegedly promotes hatred of Jews, argued in a case before a human rights tribunal that the provision does not include the World Wide Web. The amendment would render that argument moot.