Liberals’ new hate crime bill targets 'symbols' of hate

The Liberal government has introduced legislation to create four new hate-related criminal offences.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the bill will create new crimes of obstruction and intimidation aimed at protecting religious institutions.

Fraser says the bill will make it a criminal offence to wilfully promote hate through the use of hate symbols.

That designation would apply to two Nazi symbols — the swastika and the SS bolt — and symbols of designated terrorist entities.

Fraser says the bill also would create a new category of hate crime which would be layered on top of existing offences and would apply in cases where the crime was motivated by hate towards the victim.

He outlined aspects of the bill at a press conference that took place before the text of the bill was made available to media.