THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
OTTAWA, Wednesday, May 20, 2026
(18)
[English]
The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights met this day at 12:01 p.m., in room W110, 1 Wellington St., the chair, the Honourable Paulette Senior, presiding.
Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Arnold, Arnot, Bernard, Ince, McPhedran, Senior and Wells (Alberta) (7).
Other senators present: The Honourable Senator Moodie (1).
Participating in the meeting: Robert Mason and Madalina Chesoi, Analysts, Library of Parliament.
Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Thursday, April 30, 2026, the committee began its consideration of Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places).
WITNESSES:
Canadian Bar Association:
Kyla Lee, CBA Criminal Justice Section (by videoconference).
Canadian Civil Liberties Association:
Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, Director, Fundamental Freedoms Program (by videoconference).
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group:
Timothy McSorley, National Coordinator.
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police:
Robert Johnson, Deputy Chief and Co-chair of the Special Purpose Committee on Hate-Motivated Crime (by videoconference).
Toronto Police Service:
Katherine Stephenson, Chief Superintendent, Investigative Support Command (by videoconference).
Edmonton Police Service:
Nicole Chapdelaine, Deputy Chief, Investigations and Support Services Bureau (by videoconference).
Ottawa Police Service:
Ali Toghrol, Staff Sergeant, Community Safety Services.
Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission:
Shawna Y. Paris, Chair.
The Organization for the Prevention of Violence:
Stephen Camp, Project Director, Hate Crime Centre.
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs:
Richard Marceau, Senior Vice-President Strategic Initiatives and General Counsel.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center:
Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy.
B'Nai Brith Canada:
Richard Robertson, Director, Research and Advocacy (by videoconference).
Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism:
Mark Sandler, Chair.
World Sikh Organization of Canada:
Balpreet Singh, Legal Counsel (by videoconference).
Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic:
Justin Yuen, Lawyer.
Canadian Hindus for Harmony and Vishwa Jain Sangathan Canada:
Vijaykumar Jain, Director.
As individuals:
Kenneth Grad, Assistant Professor and Lead Jurist of the Winograd Initiative for the Study of Hate Speech and Antisemitism, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba (by videoconference).
David Haskell, Social Scientist and Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University (by videoconference).
Kenneth Grad and David Haskell each made a statement and answered questions.
At 12:59 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 1:07 p.m., the committee resumed.
Kyla Lee, Anaïs Bussières McNicoll and Timothy McSorley each made a statement and answered questions.
At 2 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 2:08 p.m., the committee resumed.
Robert Johnson, Katherine Stephenson, Nicole Chapdelaine and Ali Toghrol each made a statement and answered questions.
At 3:01 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 3:33 p.m., the committee resumed.
Shawna Y. Paris and Stephen Camp each made a statement and answered questions.
At 4:31 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 4:38 p.m., the committee resumed.
Richard Marceau, Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Richard Robertson and Mark Sandler each made a statement and answered questions.
At 5:31 p.m., the committee suspended.
At 5:38 p.m., the committee resumed.
Balpreet Singh, Justin Yuen and Vijaykumar Jain each made a statement and answered questions.
At 6:25 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.
ATTEST:
Caroline Woodward
Clerk of the Committee