Hear the highlights of this historic debate over Holocaust denial in Canada’s House of Commons

The debate took place on the eve of Yom ha-Shoah.
Clockwise from top left: Conservative MP Kevin Waugh, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, NDP MP Blake Desjarlais and Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman debate Waugh's proposed bill to criminalize Holocaust denial in the House of Commons on the eve of Yom ha-Shoah.

A historic debate took place in the House of Commons on Wednesday. With two nearly identical proposals tabled to ban Holocaust denial, members of Parliament tackled the one put forth first, by Conservative MP Kevin Waugh. They spent an hour debating it, though most of them agreed to support it, at least in principle.

It may all be moot—the bill may be thrown out if and when the federal budget gets passed, as the Liberals’ version of the bill is nestled into that massive document. But until then, and on the eve of Yom ha-Shoah, Waugh’s bill continues to go through the proper motions.

Today you’ll hear from representatives of the four major parties who delivered speeches, including Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, NDP MP Blake Desjarlais and Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure.

What we talked about:

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