OTTAWA — Justice Minister Sean Fraser said Friday the government’s new bill targeting the use of hate and terror symbols is not a “blanket ban” on any particular imagery.
Rather, the minister says, laying a charge under the newly proposed offence would depend on a variety of factors to be evaluated by police and prosecutors — a prospect that quickly sparked concern and questions over its implementation.
The measure was contained in the first piece of legislation presented by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals since their return to Parliament this week, and is one of five changes his government seeks to make to the Criminal Code to address hate in Canada.
It comes after nearly two years of sustained protests against Israel’s war with Hamas, triggered by Hamas’s attack on southern I