Originally Posted by
welsh
I've remarked before, though it won't be a popular view, that this is a bad bill. The reason is that it will criminalize actions that ought not to be regarded as crimes. There is a difference between a mere offence and an actual crime: the severity of the offence. When you commit a crime, you are left with a criminal record, which affects your future employment, your ability to travel outside the country, and so on. Speeding and trespassing are offences; murder is a crime.
The Criminal Code exists to punish those offences that society regards as particularly blameworthy, not as a hammer to be deployed in cultural disputes. Breitkreuz is simply currying political favour by proposing a bill that favours the activities of one constituency by criminalizing those who oppose them. It's not an appropriate use of the criminal law.
Making noise complaints will not be a criminal offence under this bill (which, incidentally, is not going to pass anyway), and will never be -- because the Supreme Court would strike that down in a heartbeat. Seriously: making it a crime to complain to police that you believe someone is breaking the law?
The police already have ways of dealing with people who make nuisance complaints.
