Bill C-16
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- ENGLISH
- SUMMARY SUMMARY
- Canadian Human Rights Act Canadian Human Rights Act
- Criminal Code Criminal Code
- EXPLANATORY NOTES EXPLANATORY NOTES
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First Session, Forty-second Parliament, 64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016 |
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HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA |
An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code
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FIRST READING, May 17, 2016
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MINISTER OF JUSTICE |
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.
The enactment also amends the Criminal Code to extend the protection against hate propaganda set out in that Act to any section of the public that is distinguished by gender identity or expression and to clearly set out that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on gender identity or expression constitutes an aggravating circumstance that a court must take into consideration when it imposes a sentence.
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Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:
www.ourcommons.ca
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1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016 |
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HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA |
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BILL C-16 |
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An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code |
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.S., c. H-6
Canadian Human Rights Act
1998, c. 9, s. 9; 2012, c. 1, s. 137(E)
1 Section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is replaced by the following:
Purpose
2 The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, Insertion start gender identity or expression Insertion end , marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
1996, c. 14, s. 2; 2012, c. 1, s. 138(E)
2 Subsection 3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Prohibited grounds of discrimination
3 (1) For all purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, Insertion start gender identity or expression Insertion end , marital status, family status, disability and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
R.S., c. C-46
Criminal Code
2014, c. 31, s. 12
3 Subsection 318(4) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:
Definition of identifiable group
(4) In this section, identifiable group means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, Insertion start gender identity or expression Insertion end , or mental or physical disability.
1995, c. 22, s. 6
4 Subparagraph 718.2(a)(i) of the Act is replaced by the following:
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(i) evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, Insertion start or gender identity or expression Insertion end , or Insertion start on Insertion end any other similar factor,
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Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
2 The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
3 (1) For all purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
(4) In this section, identifiable group means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability.
718.2 A court that imposes a sentence shall also take into consideration the following principles:
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(a) a sentence should be increased or reduced to account for any relevant aggravating or mitigating circumstances relating to the offence or the offender, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,
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(i) evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor,
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shall be deemed to be aggravating circumstances;