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Senate

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LegislationJune 3, 20267 min read
The Senate Just Voted to Make "Downplaying" or "Misrepresenting Facts" About Residential Schools a Criminal Offence. The Supreme Court Struck Down Almost Identical Language in 1992.
On June 2026 (date varies by source), the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights voted 4-3 (with one abstention) to amend Bill C-9 — the federal Combatting Hate Act — to add a new criminal offence of "residential school denialism." The amendment defines the offence as willfully promoting hatred against Indigenous peoples by "condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada" or by "misrepresenting facts relating to it." Maximum penalty: two years imprisonment. The amendment passed committee with one dissent from Senator Patti LaBoucane-Benson (a Métis senator who sought more consultation with Indigenous leaders) and an abstention. The amended bill now moves to Senate report stage and third reading, with the first possible third-reading date being June 3, 2026. If the Senate passes the amended bill, it returns to the House of Commons for consideration of the Senate amendments before any possibility of Royal Assent. This article quotes the amendment text verbatim, walks the existing Criminal Code section 319(2) "wilfully promoting hatred" framework into which the new language inserts, and analyzes the Charter section 2(b) "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression" concerns — anchored on the Supreme Court of Canada's 1992 ruling in *R v Zundel*, [1992] 2 SCR 731, which struck down the false-news provision (section 181 of the Criminal Code) on Charter grounds. The "misrepresenting facts" language in the new amendment maps closely to the language *Zundel* found unconstitutional. The article also notes the Catholic Civil Rights League's objection (the residential school system was operated in large part by Catholic religious orders, so "justifying" or "condoning" could implicate sermons and pastoral discussions), Senator LaBoucane-Benson's Indigenous-consultation concern, and the honest qualifiers — including the documented historical harm of the residential school system and the legitimate goal of preventing anti-Indigenous hate propaganda.

The Senate Just Voted to Make "Downplaying" or "Misrepresenting Facts" About Residential Schools a Criminal Offence. The Supreme Court Struck Down Almost Identical Language in 1992.

On June 2026 (date varies by source), the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights voted 4-3 (with one abstention) to amend Bill C-9 — the federal Combatting Hate Act — to add a new criminal offence of "residential school denialism." The amendment defines the offence as willfully promoting hatred against Indigenous peoples by "condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada" or by "misrepresenting facts relating to it." Maximum penalty: two years imprisonment. The amendment passed committee with one dissent from Senator Patti LaBoucane-Benson (a Métis senator who sought more consultation with Indigenous leaders) and an abstention. The amended bill now moves to Senate report stage and third reading, with the first possible third-reading date being June 3, 2026. If the Senate passes the amended bill, it returns to the House of Commons for consideration of the Senate amendments before any possibility of Royal Assent. This article quotes the amendment text verbatim, walks the existing Criminal Code section 319(2) "wilfully promoting hatred" framework into which the new language inserts, and analyzes the Charter section 2(b) "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression" concerns — anchored on the Supreme Court of Canada's 1992 ruling in *R v Zundel*, [1992] 2 SCR 731, which struck down the false-news provision (section 181 of the Criminal Code) on Charter grounds. The "misrepresenting facts" language in the new amendment maps closely to the language *Zundel* found unconstitutional. The article also notes the Catholic Civil Rights League's objection (the residential school system was operated in large part by Catholic religious orders, so "justifying" or "condoning" could implicate sermons and pastoral discussions), Senator LaBoucane-Benson's Indigenous-consultation concern, and the honest qualifiers — including the documented historical harm of the residential school system and the legitimate goal of preventing anti-Indigenous hate propaganda.