Hon. Marty Klyne: Minister, welcome. First Nations communities have raised concerns that Bill C-9 does not adequately protect their cultural space as it does for non-Indigenous communities. As it is currently defined in Bill C-9, would the term “cemetery” in clause 6 of the bill include unmarked burial sites at former residential schools or ancestral Indigenous burial sites?

Hon. Sean Fraser, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice, Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Before addressing your question directly, there are protections that are not specifically named as being for Indigenous communities but do specifically offer protection for them. For example, the stand-alone crime of hate would apply to a crime that is committed against a person because they are Indigenous.

Similarly, when I look at the intimidation and obstruction offences — which include cemeteries — my interpretation, using the ordinary principles of statutory interpretation, would see burial grounds typically considered.

This bill doesn’t create a new right of access to, for example, an area that may be on private lands. That is a bigger conversation that I think Parliament and, of course, provincial legislatures ought to discuss given their regulation of property rights. That said, my interpretation of “cemeteries” would include those spaces.

There are also spaces and buildings that are uniquely used by Indigenous Peoples in this country. Those would certainly benefit from the protections included in Bill C-9. I hope we can communicate that unequivocally to Indigenous rights holders in this country.