The government sponsored anti-genocide, anti-hate propaganda bill passed third and final reading yesterday by a vote of 89-45 in the House of Commons after a week of sharp debate. The bill now goes to the Senate, which must accept it with all the amendments voted in Commons. Senate approval is considered a formality. Most of those who voted against the bill in the House were Conservatives and members of the New Democratic Party. Several, during the week long debate, expressed the view that the bill’s passage would signify a corrosion of the Canadian Bill of Rights. The measure, which was first introduced by the Prime Minister, would punish up to five years imprisonment persons who engage in written or oral incitement to genocide against any ethnic or national minority.
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