Hon. Paula Simons: Would the senator take another question?

Senator Moncion: Of course I will.

Senator Simons: I almost feel I ought to give you a standing ovation, because I know how difficult it is to be the sponsor of the budget and carry it through.

However, there is still one part of the budget document that very much concerns me, and that is the insertion of amendments to the Criminal Code to criminalize denial and downplaying of the Holocaust. This was a question I didn’t get to ask the Government Representative, so I’ll ask it of you. Why was this placed in the budget bill, and should we be concerned that this Criminal Code amendment, that impinges upon constitutional freedom of expression rights, has been sort of tucked into the budget where it can’t be pulled out and properly debated?

Senator Moncion: Thank you for the question; it is an important one.

First, the knowledge I have of this specific issue is that it was something that was asked for by the Jewish community. There are people who are saying we don’t need this, and there are people who are saying this is important and needs to be in the bill. I can’t speak for the government, but I believe that bringing the offence into the Criminal Code was a way to provide Canadians with the assurance that this is top of mind for the government.

When we are talking about freedom of the press, I think we have to look at the different views on this. This will probably be challenged on a constitutional basis. I think at some point we might bring change to this, but I really believe that when the government was looking at putting this into the Criminal Code, it was done to send a strong message to Canadians about Islamophobia. It is a problem in our country and a problem, I think, elsewhere in the world.

Senator Simons: Leaving aside the merits of the amendment, I have to say that since I spoke on this in the chamber last week, I have been overwhelmed with responses from people in the Jewish community across Canada — including the children and grandchildren of survivors — who agreed with me that this was an imprudent strategy.

I’m concerned about the presence of this change in a budget bill. I was privileged to sit in when the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs discussed this and brought in Minister Lametti to ask him these questions. But I remain concerned that, by amending the Criminal Code within a budget bill, we have been robbed of an opportunity to have a more complete debate on this issue.

Senator Moncion: Thank you for the question. The budget bill is used to bring in measures that come from the budget. The budget was presented in April, and in the budget there was information on measures the government would bring forward. That’s why you find it in the budget bill.

We might agree or disagree on the fact that the budget bill or the budget implementation act is not the best place for it, but that is how the government sees bringing forward what is in the budget — to bring it through the budget implementation act. If you look at the budget and see the number of measures there, they are not all in the budget implementation act, because they don’t all need changes, but some do.

That would be my logical answer to your question.