[Member spoke in Inuktitut]
[English]
Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the committee for including me on this important study.
I will be asking three sets of questions in three different topic areas.
I first want to say that I very much appreciate that Canada is such a diverse country. We have great diversity. This diversity is from a country that was founded from stealing and taking from indigenous people. Indigenous people were on these lands before Canada became a country and decision-making and governance were taken from us.
My first question is very much related to the treatment of indigenous peoples.
Just so you know, Minister, I am going to ask all my topical questions in one statement, just to ensure that I get all my questions on the record. If you don't have enough time to answer my questions, I hope that the committee allows you to provide the rest of your responses to the committee in a written format.
My first topic is on trusting police to not abuse their power. New Democrats are concerned with giving police more subjective power to lay hate crime charges. Our main concern is about trust.
On a separate but related issue, Wet'suwet'en land defenders were criminalized. Nunavut land defenders were on the verge of being criminalized. Why? It was because they were protesting government decisions. These are examples of the deep levels of distrust of police forces in indigenous communities.
You will recall that about a year ago at this time, the Speaker granted my request for an emergency debate on law enforcement, because the RCMP had enforced colonial and genocidal policies to oppress indigenous people for decades.
In about a week in 2024, between August 29 and September 8, Canadian police killed six first nations people. Racialized people in this country have a similar experience with law enforcement. This bill requires that Canadians trust that the police will know when an action is motivated by hate and when it is not.
Could the minister respond by sharing what safeguards protesters will have that ensure that law enforcement does not use these new powers to criminalize protesters?
On the second topic, the stigma related to being charged with a hate crime, hate is already an aggravating factor under the Criminal Code. This bill lengthens existing Criminal Code violations based on hate. In addition, the new offence puts the consequences of hatred at the beginning of the judicial process instead of at the end, when the sentencing judge has all the evidence and the accused has received due process. Being charged creates stigma as it is. This bill has the potential to create more stigma, which is troubling, especially when charges are dropped.
Does the minister agree that keeping the attorney general's consent in the process is an important safeguard to ensure that the justice system does not get flooded with increased charges in the already overburdened justice system? Does the minister agree that we do not need to create more stigma and more hate in Canada?
On the final topic, vague language, New Democrats are concerned about vagueness in this bill. We know that once broad definitions are codified, they can easily be weaponized against groups. For example, how will intimidating behaviours be interpreted by the police? In its current form, this bill has the potential to criminalize peaceful protesters and legitimate dissent.
We remain disappointed that this bill does not address the violent activities of the growing white nationalist movement. The failure to include this aspect in the bill leaves racialized communities, indigenous communities and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community without the necessary tools to combat the largest source of hatred in Canada.
This bill seems to be more about criminalizing people who speak out than it is about addressing the growing racism against racialized people. Can the minister explain why this bill does not address the threat of the growing white nationalist movement in Canada?
Qujannamiik, Iksivautaq.