London, Ont. considers how to ban hate symbols so a law sticks

Legislation to ban hate symbols like the Confederate flag in municipalities would have a stronger impact if passed by the federal government, said London's Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan. 

In a meeting with the Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Oppression Advisory Committee on Thursday, Morgan explained that although the city can create bylaws to prohibit or ban hate symbols, they would most likely run into significant legal challenges within the municipal jurisdiction.

"Essentially, it would be moving toward the criminality of these symbols, and the Criminal Code is governed by the federal government," he said. "Whenever a municipality legislates outside of its jurisdiction, that can be struck down through a legal challenge."

He added that such a bylaw may not be enforceable because the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects expressions of interest including symbols like flags, which may offend people, but isn't technically deemed as criminal or illegal.

The push for change comes after Londoner Melissa Ng launched a petition last month in response to a CBC story, in which members of the Black community expressed discomfort after seeing a Confederate flag on a rural property in the city's south end. The petition received about 3800 signatures.

Ng said her petition was inspired by Collingwood, Ont.'s city council, which unanimously voted to ban public and private displays of hate within the community last year.

However, according to Morgan, the petition had factual inaccuracies because Collingwood was unable to pass the bylaw due to the issue of jurisdiction. Councillors then went through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to put a motion before the federal government to strengthen Canada's hate speech laws last July. 

Morgan, London's representative for FCM, voted in favour of the motion. He said other cities such as Stratford, Kitchener, and Brampton have also tried to pass a similar bylaw. 

Morgan said London is committed to working with the federal government on Bill C229, which amends the Criminal Code to ban symbols of hate, to bring about meaningful change. 

"Hate speech laws don't currently include strong definitions of hate speech or explicit recognition of the psychological harm that can be caused by hateful symbols," he said. 

"The ability of a municipality to go on private land and take down such an item, without it being explicitly banned or recognized as a symbol of hate by the federal government would be exceptionally hard to do."

But Ng believes this is an example of governments not taking responsibility to enact change.

"The government simply doesn't understand the needs of citizens. Every government body ends up passing the buck onto a higher power saying 'oh it's not in our ability'," she said. "It's pretty clear that Canada including cities and provinces, are not doing enough at all for marginalized communities and people."

Morgan said the city can only pass laws within their scope. "Even if we could legislate, we can only do it within the city limits, if you drive 1km past London, you can see the symbols, which will cause the same amount of harm."