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COMBATTING TERROR

Submission to the Justice Committee
on Bill C-36 ~ Anti-Terrorism Act

2. Non-Discrimination Clause

The United Nations anti-terrorism conventions — to which Canada is a signatory — assert a non-discrimination principle. For instance, the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism provides [Article 6]:

“Each state party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary, including, where appropriate, domestic legislation, to ensure that criminal acts within the scope of this Convention are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature.”

Bill C-36 needs two anti-discrimination provisions to offer the same assurances that international anti-terrorism treaties require: one general to the application of the whole Bill, and one specific to the listing of terrorist entities.

The general non-discrimination clause in Bill C-36 should appear at the beginning of the Bill and could be comparable to the non-discrimination clause in the Immigration Act. The clause could read:

“It is hereby declared that Canadian anti-terrorism policy and the rules and regulations made under this Act shall be designed and administered in such a manner as not to discriminate in a manner inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

The non-discrimination clause specific to the listing of terrorist entities should precede the revisions to S. 83.05 of the Criminal Code and should read:

“It is hereby declared that Canadian anti-terrorism policy and the rules and regulations made under this Act shall be designed and administered in such a manner as to ensure that the listing of any entity or failure to list any entity under section 83.05 does not discriminate in a manner inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

We have already seen discriminatory discourse distinguishing between the September 11^th terrorists and other terrorists, particularly those killing innocents in Israel. That sort of discrimination is unconscionable and ends up excusing terrorism. The law must be applied in a non-discriminatory way so that other terrorists fall under its sway as much as anti-American terrorists. One person’s terrorist should be considered a terrorist to all people. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine must be listed along with Al Qaeda. It would be unacceptable for Canada to say that terrorism against Americans generally is illegal, but that terrorism against Jews in particular is legal.

The case of Vriend [Vriend v. Alberta (1998) 1 S.C.R. 493] in the Supreme Court of Canada reminds us that the Charter guarantee of equality can be violated by omissions in legislation as much as by inclusions in legislation. The purpose of anti-terrorism legislation is to protect the victims of terrorism. If we prohibit some terrorist organizations and not others, then we offer protection to only some of the victims of terrorism but not all.

Table of Contents § Preface § Sunset Clause § Non-discrimination Clause § Retrospectivity Clause § Additional Hate Crime Provisions
Definition of Terrorist Activity § Financing Terrorist Activity § Amendments to Other Acts § Summary of Recommendations

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