Quebec tables bill that would ban gang colours, creates public sex offender registry
Global News
The new bill prohibits wearing or displaying any patches or symbols promoting a list of criminal entities established by the Public Security Department.
The Quebec government tabled a wide-ranging public security bill Wednesday that would forbid criminal groups from displaying their colours, create a sex offender registry and forbid protests near the homes of elected officials.
Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière said Bill 13 aims to foster a sense of security among the public. Premier François Legault gave the minister the mandate to do this during the government’s inaugural address to open the legislature earlier this fall.
The new bill prohibits wearing or displaying any patches or symbols promoting a list of criminal entities established by the Public Security Department.
“We know very well what the purpose (of the insignia) is: intimidation,” Lafrenière told a news conference. “Today, the message we are sending is that it’s over.”
For example, Quebecers could face fines of up to $5,000 for wearing Hells Angels jackets in public and criminal gangs would no longer be allowed to fly their flags at their clubhouses.
Lafrenière said the goal is to stop the “glorification of criminal groups” that currently act with impunity. The symbols and imagery would be listed on a public registry compiled by police.
“Driving around with a truckload of junk to promote their criminal group would become illegal,” said Lafrenière, a former Montreal police officer.
The bill also creates a registry of sex offenders who are released from prison and considered at high risk of reoffending. Such registries already exist in other provinces.
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