The bill also expands limits on demonstrations by banning protests around community, cultural, and religious centres, regardless of the activities taking place inside. Critics warn that creating “bubble zones” around such places restricts freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, and could effectively criminalize lawful protest that is not hate-motivated—for example, when Palestine solidarity protesters (many of them Jewish) protested outside synagogues hosting non-religious events promoting the illegal sale of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The federal government says these new restrictions aim to make Canada safer and better able to fight hate crimes. But, in a joint letter, 37 diverse civil society organisations stressed their opposition to the bill. The signatories demanded that Parliament withdraw the bill, saying it would worsen systemic inequities and undermine Canada’s commitments to freedom of expression.

Some legal infrastructure defining criticisms of Israel as hate speech is already in place. In 2019, the federal government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which broadens the definition of antisemitism to include some criticisms of Israel. According to the federal government’s document on the subject, referring to “the existence of the state of Israel is a racist endeavor” is anti-semitism. The document’s list of examples of hate-speech includes phrases such as “you can’t be antiracist and Zionist” and that “Zionism is a racist & violent settler-colonial project.” Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) criticized the definition, saying it was being used to “suppress and even criminalize pro-Palestine speech and activism.”