Canada intends to outlaw Holocaust denial, a move backed by the coalition, including the Liberal and Conservative Party. The bill will be worded in a way that is in line with existing Canadian laws, which prohibit hatred and the promotion of genocide
Public Holocaust denial will soon be banned in Canada, in a further effort to ward off rising anti-Semitism. The federal government, in cooperation with opposition and coalition parties, will promote a law banning statements denying Holocaust denial, or minimizing the killing of Jews by the Nazi regime. The bill will emphasize that Holocaust denial during a private conversation will not constitute a criminal offense.
“There is no room for anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in Canada,” Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Public Security, told the Canadian channel CTV. “Therefore, we pledged to ban the promotion of anti-Semitism through Holocaust denial or reduction. The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. We must preserve its memory, fight contemporary anti-Semitism and be unequivocal when we say never again.”
Erwin Kotler, a human rights activist who is now Canada’s special envoy for Holocaust remembrance and the fight against anti-Semitism, said: “Holocaust denial and distortion are a brutal attack on memory, truth and justice – an antisemitic plot to cover up the worst crime in history.
“Jewish Canadians make up one percent of Canada’s population, but they are the target of 62 percent of all religious hate crimes,” said Richard Marceau, vice president of the Center for Israel and Judaism. “We live in a time of rising anti-Semitism.” Canada will join a number of European countries, including Germany, Greece, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic, which have already banned Holocaust denial.