Disproportionate Harm
Hate Crime in Canada

Appendix C
Canadian Hate Crimes Statistics Act (Proposed)

BILL C-445

An Act to provide for the collection of statistics respecting incidents investigated by police forces where those incidents manifest evidence of bias against certain identifiable groups.

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 Bias Incidents Statistics Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. In this Act,

"Force" means the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

"identifiable group" means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnic origin and includes any person belonging to that group;

"Minister" means the Solicitor General of Canada.

CLASSIFICATION OF INCIDENTS AND COLLECTION OF STATISTICS

3. (1) The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police shall establish a unit within the Force that shall, for each year following the coming into force of this Act,

(a) classify as a bias incident, any incident investigated in that year by the Force that the unit is satisfied, after applying the criteria referred to in subsection (2), was wholly or partly motivated by bias against an identifiable group; and

(b) collect and compile statistics that indicate the number of incidents classified in that year as bias incidents and that identify which identifiable group was the target of bias in each such incident.

(2) The Minister shall establish and publish criteria for the purposes of paragraph (l)(a).

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Commissioner of the Force shall submit the statistics collected and compiled pursuant to subsection (1) to the Minister on or before February 1 in the year next following the year to which the statistics relate.

(4) No statistics submitted to the Minister pursuant to subsection (3) shall reveal the identity of any individual involved, either directly or indirectly, in an incident classified as a bias incident pursuant to this Act.

AGREEMENT WITH A PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY

4. (1) Subject to this section, the Minister may enter into an agreement with the government of a province or a municipality to acquire, for each year covered by the agreement, statistics that indicate the number of incidents investigated by a police force in that year that are classified as bias incidents by that force and that identify which identifiable group was the target of bias in each such incident.

(2) The Minister shall not enter into an agreement referred to in subsection (1) unless

the Minister is satisfied that any classification referred to in that subsection will be made after the application of criteria similar to those established by the Minister under section 3.

(3) The Minister shall not acquire any statistics pursuant to all agreement made under subsection (1) that reveal the identity of any individual involved, either directly or indirectly, in an incident that is classified as a bias incident by a police force.

(4) In this section,

"bias incident" means an incident that a police force is satisfied, after applying criteria similar to those established by the Minister under section 3, was wholly or partly motivated by bias against an identifiable group;

"police force" means any police force under the jurisdiction of the government of a province or a municipality and includes the Force where the Force is used or employed by either of those governments pursuant to an arrangement made with the Minister under section 20 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.

REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

5. The Minister shall annually cause a copy of the statistics submitted pursuant to section 3 or acquired pursuant to an agreement made under section 4 to be laid before the House of Commons on or before March 1 in the year next following the year to which the statistics relate or, if that House is not then sitting, on the first day next thereafter that the House of Commons is sitting.

COMING INTO FORCE

6. This Act shall come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

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