Singh Pushes to Criminalize Hate Symbols

The NDP is suggesting that the government ban the display of certain hate symbols.

Bill C-229, tabled by NDP MP Peter Julian last week, would prohibit the “display or sale” of symbols or emblems such as the Nazi swastika, the Ku Klux Klan’s insignia, and the Confederate flag.

“It’s very clear what they stand for and it’s very clear they should not have any place in Canada. That’s why we’re limiting this to a very specific set of symbols,” he said during an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday.

“Hate is being emboldened ... hate is very much like a fire. Once it’s allowed to take hold, it spreads and it starts consuming everything.”

The proposed ban comes in light of certain individuals showing them at the trucker convoy protests in downtown Ottawa.

“There was a time in the States with Trump where that certainly was happening and now we’re seeing some of that resurging here. To imagine swastikas, to imagine the Confederate flag, and KKK kind of paraphernalia in Canada. Those two other symbols were in this protest…it’s just something that we don’t want to see in Canada,” he said.

Anyone who is found to have contravened the law could face a prison sentence of a maximum of two years.

Singh went on. “I think on both sides – the Conservatives are clearly using this, they’re weaponizing this convoy, they’re using it for political gain. The Liberals are also not innocent here, they’re also looking at this as a wedge issue,” he said.

Singh added that the Conservatives specifically are “emboldening” some of the worst of what’s been seen at the protests.

“They’re not making it clear that it’s wrong to have organizers of this to be openly divisive and hateful,” he said.