Canada needs an explicit ban on swastikas and other “loathsome” hate symbols, says one NDP MP.
NDP House Leader Peter Julian says he is looking at reintroducing a private member’s bill that aims to ban the sale and display of hate symbols in Canada, like the swastikas and Confederate flags flown at a trucker convoy in Ottawa over recent days.
“Over the last few days, I’ve had a lot of people contacting me to say, ‘We really need this legislation in place,'” Julian said to Global News. “Other countries ban Nazi symbols and I think it horrified a lot of Canadians to see the Nazi flag on Parliament Hill.”
The soonest he would be able to reintroduce the bill is this week.
The trucker convoy blockading the downtown core of the nation’s capital has been billed by many attendees as a “peaceful” protest against public health measures in place to fight COVID-19.
Some organizers of the convoy, however, have well-documented ties to white supremacists and there were multiple instances of Nazi flags, Confederate flags and Canadian flags marred by swastikas flown by individuals in the crowd over the weekend.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the flying of hate symbols among some who attended on Monday, while government House leader Mark Holland said in his view, flying the flags despite the fear they invoke in so many Canadians means the protests cannot fairly be described as “peaceful.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole also commented on the matter.
“Despite the fear mongering of the prime ministers and others, we only saw a handful of unacceptable incidents this weekend. Hateful flags. Disrespect for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” he said. “And I unequivocally condemn them.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also criticized the presence of hate symbols.
“The right to peaceful protest is core to our Canadian identity,” said Ford.
“I was extremely disturbed, however, to see some individuals desecrate our most sacred monuments and wave swastikas and other symbols of hate and intolerance this weekend. That has no place in Ontario or Canada. Not now. Not ever.”
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service warned in 2020 that neo-Nazis and white supremacists are among the extremist groups that are using the collective social trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories aimed at radicalizing others.
Antisemitism is on the rise in Canada and other countries, and some opposed to vaccine mandates have used false comparisons to the Holocaust in describing the public health restrictions placed on people who refuse to get vaccinated.
And while the Canadian Criminal Code prohibits a range of hate speech, there are no laws explicitly banning the ownership or display of Nazi symbols or other hate symbols.
Police can intervene if the symbols are used during the communication of hatred, though Julian noted he has heard from municipalities and local law enforcement agencies who often find themselves on the front lines of trying to make that call as each case and complaint emerges.
City councillors in Hamilton voted unanimously last summer to ban symbols promoting hate, including the Nazi flag and Confederate flag, on city-owned property.
The bill Julian introduced last year used a similar approach, proposing to amend the Criminal Code by adding “visual representation” of hate to the section prohibiting the promotion of hatred or violence.
It would encompass anyone “publicly displaying, selling or offering for sale a symbol, emblem, flag or uniform that identifies, or is associated with, a person or organization that promotes or incites, or has promoted or incited, hatred or violence against an identifiable group.”
If adopted, the bill would carry penalties of up to two years in prison for those convicted.
“What it does is creates real consequences for somebody putting forth such a loathsome symbol,” Julian said, adding he has so far heard interest “from a number of different parties” in the House of Commons.
“Once I retable the bill, I would hope to have the support of all members of Parliament. I can’t see any member of Parliament thinking it is right and proper that a Nazi flag be displayed a few feet from the Hall of Honour, where we commemorate 45,000 Canadians who gave their lives fighting Nazism,” he said.
“I fully expect we’ll have a lot of support from members of Parliament.”