Canada Moves to Toughen Hate Crime Laws

by Jan Prout
365Gay.com

OTTAWA -- The federal government will bring in legislation to provide gays and lesbians with additional hate crime protections.

Justice Minister Anne McLellan said today that she has received consensus from her provincial counterparts that hate propaganda laws need to be amended to include gays.

However, McLellan said no timetable has been set to introduce a bill.

Canada has two laws covering hate crimes. One, which provides for tougher sentences for people convicted of physical violence in a hate crime, already includes gays and lesbians.

But a section of the criminal code dealing with the promotion of hate in speeches, publications or in broadcasts omitted GLBT references.

McLellan met with the provincial justice ministers yesterday. She said there was "unanimous consent" to make good on an earlier promise to designate verbal attacks on "sexual orientation" as hate propaganda.

Last week, the NDP's Svend Robinson introduced a private members bill that would include gays and lesbians in the hate propaganda section of the criminal code.

Robinson is the first openly gay man to be elected to the Canadian parliament. He told the Commons the murder of Aaron Webster, the Vancouver man clubbed to death with baseball bats, brought new urgency to amending the act.