Criminal Code

Therefore, honourable senators, in amendment, I move:

That Bill C-9 be not now read a third time, but that it be amended in clause 4, on page 2, by replacing lines 4 and 5 with the following:

“(b) the Nazi Hakenkreuz, the Nazi double Sig-Rune, also known as the SS bolts, or a noose; or”.

Will Senator Bernard take a question?

Yes.

Thank you, colleagues.

Senator Bernard, first, thank you for your long-standing advocacy on behalf of Black Canadians and for championing this amendment.

As I previously expressed and as confirmed yesterday by the Government Representative in the Senate, the government is in agreement with this amendment, and I will be voting in favour of it.

The use of the noose as a symbol to intimidate and oppress Black Canadians is vile and should be seriously considered by this chamber. It carries a specific history of racial terror, directed at Black Canadians and Black communities across this hemisphere.

Personally, I’m deeply concerned by rising levels of hate directed toward Black communities and by some of the stories witnesses have brought forward to the Human Rights Committee, which you’ve shared.

My question to you is this: Can you confirm to this chamber that the noose as a hate symbol meets the three legislative criteria — one, it wilfully promotes hatred; two, it is targeted toward an identifiable group; and three, it is done in a public space — for its inclusion?

Thank you, Senator K. Wells, for your question, your work and your comments.

With regard to the first point, “wilfully promotes hatred,” I would say that community organizations like the Black Opportunity Fund, argue that a noose is not an ambiguous or benign historical fact; it is a literal tool of execution.

With regard to your second point, “targeted toward an identifiable group,” in modern contexts, when an individual manufactures or introduces a noose into a specific environment, such as a workplace, school or community, it is done with the clear, wilful purpose of inciting terror rather than as a causal or accidental expression.

With regard to racial terror, the noose is universally recognized as a primary symbol of White supremacy, anti-Black racism and the history of lynching in North America, including here in Canada.

With regard to identifiable harm, its deployment directly targets an identifiable group, specifically Black Canadians, protected under the Criminal Code. Submissions that we received emphasized that its psychological impact is equivalent to the Nazi symbols already targeted by Bill C-9.

With regard to the third point, “done in a public space,” when we think about real-world proliferation, advocacy briefs point to documented, high-profile Canadian incidents where nooses were intentionally placed in public or semi-public spaces to maximize visibility and intimidation, and I shared some of those examples in my speech.

With regard to site-specific contexts, notable examples presented to us at committee include nooses found at Toronto construction sites, such as the Michael Garron Hospital and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and hospital operating rooms, demonstrating that these acts are executed in public workspaces to terrorize entire communities.