Bill C-493

2nd Session, 39th Parliament,

56 Elizabeth II, 2007

house of commons of canada

BILL C-493

An Act to eliminate racial and religious profiling

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Elimination of Racial and Religious Profiling Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

“enforcement agency” means any department or agency that employs enforcement officers.

“enforcement officer” means

(a) a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

(b) an officer or a person having the powers of a customs or excise officer when performing any duty in the administration of the Customs Act or the Excise Act;

(c) a person designated as an officer under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act;

(d) a person designated as a screening officer under the Aeronautics Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act; and

(e) a member of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

“Minister”, in respect of an enforcement agency, means the Minister responsible for the enforcement agency.

“racial or religious profiling” or “racial and religious profiling” means any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes including but not limited to stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion or place of origin, or a combination of these, rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment.

ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OR AGENCY

3. (1) An enforcement officer or enforcement agency must not engage in racial or religious profiling.

(2) Reliance on criteria such as race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion or place of origin is not considered to be racial or religious profiling if it is used by an enforcement officer in combination with other identifying factors to search for and apprehend a specific suspect whose race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion or place of origin is part of the description of the suspect.

4. (1) The Federal Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine all cases in which a claim for relief is made or a remedy is sought under this Act.

(2) Proof that the routine investigatory activities of an enforcement officer have had a disparate impact on racial, religious or ethnic minorities is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the officer has engaged in racial or religious profiling.

5. (1) An enforcement agency must maintain policies and procedures that are designed to address racism and to eliminate racial and religious profiling.

(2) The policies and procedures must include

(a) a prohibition on racial or religious profiling;

(b) provision for the collection of sufficient data on routine investigatory activities to determine if any enforcement officer has engaged in racial or religious profiling;

(c) procedures for receiving, investigating and responding to complaints alleging racial or religious profiling;

(d) procedures for disciplining enforcement officers who have engaged in racial or religious profiling;

(e) an analysis of the issue of racism; and

(f) any other measures that the Minister considers necessary to eliminate racial and religious profiling.

(3) The policies and procedures on the collection of data must be at least as stringent as any applicable standards established by regulation.

(4) The enforcement agency must submit the data collected to the Minister.

(5) At least once every year the Minister must assess the data collected against any standards established for this purpose by regulation, in order to monitor the effectiveness of the policies and procedures in eliminating racial and religious profiling.

REPORT TO PARLIAMENT

6. (1) Within two years after the coming into force of this Act and every year after that, every enforcement agency must prepare and submit to the Minister a report on racial and religious profiling, and the Minister must cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 10 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives it.

(2) The report must include

(a) a summary of the data collected under paragraph 5(2)(b);

(b) the status of the enforcement agency’s policies and procedures; and

(c) a description of any other policies and procedures that the Minister believes would facilitate the elimination of racial and religious profiling.

DATA

7. The data collected under paragraph 5(2)(b) must be made available to the public.

REGULATIONS

8. The Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) defining “routine investigatory activities” for the purposes of this Act;

(b) establishing standards for the collection of data referred to in paragraph 5(2)(b), including standards against which data that is collected may be assessed; and

(c) respecting any other matter that the Governor in Council considers necessary for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.