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C-254 — An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples)
Every bill summarized in plain language. Not clear enough? Ask for an explanation.
C-254
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples)
NDP
In progress
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BILL C-254
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred against Indigenous peoples)
Last activity : Outside the Order of Precedence
NDP
In progress
Commons · 1st2025-10-31Commons · 2ndCommons · 3rdSenate · 1stSenate · 2ndSenate · 3rdRoyal assent
Sign-in required — one request per person, no anonymous requests
What it does, in plain language
- Creates a new Criminal Code offence: wilfully promoting hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying Canada's Indian residential school system.
- Covers misrepresenting facts about residential schools, when the statements are communicated other than in a private conversation.
- Sets the penalty at up to two years in prison if prosecuted as an indictable offence, or as a summary conviction offence.
- Provides four defences: the statements were true, a good-faith religious opinion, a public-interest subject discussed for public benefit and reasonably believed true, or a good-faith intent to expose hatred in order to remove it.
- Requires the Attorney General's consent before any prosecution can begin under this new offence.
- Allows a court to order forfeiture to the province of anything used to commit the offence, on top of any other punishment.
- Defines “Indigenous peoples” using subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982.
- Includes a technical adjustment to the Criminal Code if Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, becomes law.
- Introduced at first reading on October 31, 2025 by Ms. Gazan as a private member's bill.
🤖 AI-generated from the bill’s official text as introduced — may not reflect amendments adopted since.
✋ What does “challenging” mean?
Clicking “Ask for an explanation” is a citizen request for the bill's sponsor to explain it in plain language — and for us to keep an eye on it together.
An account (email) is required — one request per person, no anonymous requests. 🔥 At 1,000 requests on the same bill, a public post is made, in the hope an MP agrees to sponsor a petition to the House.
It works on any bill, including one that has already received royal assent — that is often the one people want to understand.
Votes in the Commons
Every recorded vote — who voted what, and by what margin.
On the “who voted what” detail — the House of Commons publishes each member's name for every recorded (nominal) vote (Yea / Nay / paired). The by-member breakdown above (the "+" button on each row) comes directly from that official source (ourcommons.ca), not an estimate. The party shown next to each name is taken from the current House roster; people who have since left the House appear separately under "Former members".
How to read a vote
Recorded vote
Members vote one by one and each choice is entered in the public record. That is what lets us say exactly who voted what — no interpretation.
Passed is not law
A passed vote clears ONE stage. A bill must pass both chambers and then receive royal assent before it becomes law.
Paired is not absent
In the Commons, two members from opposing sides can agree not to vote: their voices cancel out. It is neither an absence nor an abstention.
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Hi! My name is
Martin Archambault
I'm 45, and dossiercanada.ca is your first step into democracy!
If we want people to understand politics, it has to be brought down to their level.
When I first tried to take an interest in it, on top of not knowing the jargon, bills came as two lines… and fifty PDFs. Most people would simply walk away.
So I had an idea: use artificial intelligence first to read through all of it, then to put it in plain words. That's how DossierCanada was born.
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