Unlike the US Canada is adding more hate crimes to the criminal code
Canadian Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced on Friday new legislation had been tabled that would create a "new crime of hate" in Canada's Criminal Code, outlaw the promotion of hateful symbols like the Nazi swastika that cause harm, and protect religious institutions from "obstruction and intimidation.
"If a person robs a store because the owner comes from a particular group or if a person commits harassment against someone who is seeking to attend university classes merely because they belong to a particular community of faith or race, this behavior is not just morally culpable, the impact has reverberations through the entirety of a community, and I would argue. Tears at the seams of the social fabric of the nation," Fraser said, in giving an example of what could fall under the new legislation.
Under the long-promised hate crime bill, four criminal offences could be created, including a specific criminal offence of hate that could be applied when a crime is committed specifically because of hatred toward a victim.