Bill C-9 amended to criminalize "residential school denialism"
On Monday evening, a Senate committee added a controversial amendment to criminalize "residential school denialism" with a penalty of up to two years in prison.
A Senate committee quietly voted on Monday to inject controversial expansions into the Liberal government’s anti-hate legislation, including a new provision that would criminalize “residential school denialism”
Under the new provision, individuals convicted of the vague offence could face up to two years in prison. The amendment describes “residential school denialism” as willfully promoting “hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada or by misrepresenting facts relating to it.”
The Senate’s Human Rights Committee heavily amended Bill C-9, transforming a piece of legislation originally designed to protect places of worship into a broader vehicle for speech restrictions while at the same time against reinstating religious defences.
