Ottawa, ON – Yesterday, Roman Baber, Conservative Member of Parliament for York Centre, tabled Private Member’s Bill C-257. The Bill aims to create a new criminal offence – to wilfully promote a terrorist group or terrorist activity – with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
“Intifada means violent resistance. It should be criminal to call for Intifada in Canada or to promote a terrorist entity like Hamas,” said MP Baber. “Canada already criminalizes aiding in and participation in terrorism. But there is no offence targeting the wilful promotion of terrorism. This gap allows extremists and recruiters to promote terrorism on Canada’s streets and online.”
Bill C-257 preserves the right of all Canadians to express themselves freely with built-in defences for religious expression, truth, and public-interest discussion. It also closely mirrors the framework of Section 319 of the Criminal Code with respect to the wilful promotion of hatred, which has already been found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada.
This legislation will close a loophole in Canada’s criminal laws that has been exploited by terrorist sympathizers to stoke fear and division, and it will do so in a way that is in line with Canada’s constitutional principles and free and democratic society.
MP Roman Baber is grateful to the numerous individuals and organizations who previously expressed support for the criminalization of the wilful promotion of terrorism.