Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada Arif Virani speaks in the House of Commons, in Ottawa, on Nov. 29.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Justice Minister Arif Virani is splitting the online harms bill in two in an effort to speed into law measures to combat online child abuse and hate, after the legislation ground to a halt in the Commons because of prolonged filibustering.
Mr. Virani said he was dividing Bill C-63 into two bills that would proceed “on different tracks.” The first priority will be the bill to protect children from online predators, take down revenge porn and combat online hate. The second bill would include the new hate-crime penalties that civil liberties groups have warned are heavy-handed and threaten freedom of speech.
The mammoth online harms bill has been stuck in the House of Commons since September, held up by a filibuster that reduces its chances of becoming law before the next election, which could come at any time before October.
Earlier this year, more than 20 civil society groups and legal experts delivered an open letter to Mr. Virani urging him to split Bill C-63. Advocates who want to see tougher action to protect children from abuse online have also been calling on the minister to divide the bill to improve the chances of such measures becoming law.
The priority bill will include the creation of a digital safety commission and ombudsperson to combat online hate, and measures to force platforms to take swift action to take down child abuse material, and report internet child pornography.
“We are putting our emphasis and prioritization and our time and efforts on the first portion of the bill, which deals with child sex predators,” Mr. Virani told reporters.
The decision, which would put changes to the Criminal Code and Human Rights Act on a slower track, dramatically reduces their chance of becoming law before the next election. Among the measure is a new hate-crime offence that would carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if coupled with another crime.
“The good news is that splitting this bill makes it less likely that the most egregiously censorious parts of it will pass,” said Josh Dehaas, counsel of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
On Thursday, in a bid to get the bill moving, the government will begin an initial study at the Commons justice committee. Carol Todd, the mother of Amanda Todd, the teen who died by suicide after falling victim to cyberbullying, will give evidence.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail in October, Ms. Todd urged MPs to end the standoff in the House of Commons holding up the bill.
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Mr. Virani said he had spoken to the NDP, the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois about the decision to split the bill and was hoping for a consensus on priority measures to protect children online. He signalled that he would still be willing to accept amendments to both bills when they enter committee.
But the Conservatives indicated Wednesday that they were unlikely to support the government. Larry Brock, Conservative justice critic, accused Mr. Virani of “desperately trying to salvage his deeply flawed legislation” that he said would create a “massive, $200-million censorship bureaucracy.”
The government has been relying on NDP support to push the bill through, which has been stuck at second reading in the Commons since September.
Mr. Virani said the three months’ delay to the bill in the Commons had persuaded him to divide the bill, as time is running out.
Matt Hatfield, executive director of advocacy group OpenMedia, said the move is “a huge win for Canadians, protecting our rights while reducing harms” and allows MPs to focus their attention on the core of the bill.
“In a precarious House, Bill C-63 was unlikely to make its way successfully to becoming law shackled to the deeply speech-chilling proposals” in parts of the bill, Mr. Hatfield said.
Kaitlynn Mendes, Western University’s Canada research chair in inequality and gender, said splitting the bill in two is “the right call,” adding that Canada is behind other countries that have enacted similar legislation.
“Right now, if you have a complaint with a social-media company, who say, won’t remove an image or offending post, there is nothing you can do if they don’t comply. Having these third-party bodies can be incredibly important,” she said.
The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto said it hoped MPs would support measures to “create the tools needed to protect children and youth online.”
“At SickKids, we see examples of the negative impact of social media on children and youth’s mental health every day,” said spokesperson Sarah Warr.
Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said although it was a difficult decision for Mr. Virani, splitting Bill C-63 was “the right one.”
“From the beginning, the core of the Online Harms Bill has been about prioritizing the safety and well-being of Canadian children and if we hope to get this much needed bill passed in time, this step should make that easier,” she said.