Quote:
Originally Posted by VO #23
The term "riot" isn't even mentioned in the draft, aside from the name:
2. Section 65 of the Criminal Code is re-numbered as subsection 65(1) and amended by adding the following:
](2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) while wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Rioting is already a crime in Canada, so I don't know how the infringement could be justified - this isn't targeting rioters, it's targeting potential participants by criminalizing the act of wearing the mask itself even if no crime had been commissioned yet. Even planning/conspiracy crimes (where no offence has yet been commissioned) require some sort of mens rea evidence. And what the heck is 'without lawful excuse' for wearing a mask?
There are major problems with how this is drafted.
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Thanks for this. Yeah, seems to be some major drafting issues from just a quick glance. I've never understood how some of these laws come to be drafted in a manner that makes them wholly ineffectual.