Scott Anderson, MP for Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee, and Andrew Lawton, MP for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South (photos courtesy of the House of Commons / website)

By Liam Verster

Proposed Hate Crime Offences

Anderson co-hosting town hall to discuss proposed Combatting Hate Act

Jan 14, 2026 | 10:48 AM

The local Member of Parliament will be co-hosting what he deemed an “Emergency Town Hall” to discuss proposed hate crime offences.

Bill C-9, also known as the Combatting Hate Act, was introduced in September and tabled in the House of Commons in October, intends to amend the Canadian Criminal Code to create four new offences to address hate-motivated crimes and better protect access to religious, cultural and other specified places.

• An intimidation offence that prohibits conduct intended to provoke a state of fear in another person to impede them from accessing religious or cultural institutions and other specified places
• An offence that prohibits the intentional obstruction of a person’s lawful access to such places
• A hate crime offence to more explicitly denounce hate-motivated crime
• An offence that prohibits wilfully promoting hatred against any identifiable group by displaying, in any public place, certain hate or terrorist symbols

Anderson and Andrew Lawton, MP for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South, will host the town hall to discuss the bill with people and address their concerns about what he said were potential implications for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

“Over the past several months, I’ve heard from hundreds of constituents who are deeply concerned about Bill C-9 and what it could mean for their fundamental freedoms,” Anderson said in a release.

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“This Emergency Town Hall is an opportunity to listen, provide clarity, and to have an open and respectful conversation about the issues that matter most to our community.”

Anderson said Lawton was a vocal advocate on the issue and the pair would be able to provide their insights and answer questions about the bill during the town hall.

“This event is open to everyone in our community,” Anderson said.

“It’s about ensuring Canadians understand proposed legislation and have a voice when they believe their rights and freedoms may be affected.”

In the town hall e-vite page, Anderson and Lawton said the bill “could impose serious penalties, including up to two years in jail, for expressing certain religious beliefs or even quoting passages of scripture that the government claims as hateful.”

There were no specifications wording regarding scripture in the bill, but it did state that the hate propoganda offence would be applied to the use of symbols principally used by or associated with a listed terrorist entity; the Nazi Hakenkreuz, or Nazi swastika, and the Nazi double Sig-Rune, or the Nazi SS bolts; and a symbol that nearly resembles or is likely to be confused with the aforementioned symbols.

The Emergency Town Hall will be held at the Schubert Centre at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. The event will be free to attend though people will need to register online ahead of time as space will be limited.