Ottawa, ON, December 10, 2025: The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) announced a landmark development in Canada’s anti-hate legislation as the House of Commons Justice Committee adopted MP Anthony Housefather’s amendment to Bill C-9, replacing the term “Swastika” with the historically precise “Nazi Hakenkreuz” when referring to the prohibited hate symbol.
This outcome follows months of coordinated engagement led by CoHNA, working closely with Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jewish partners across Canada. The campaign generated close to 9,000 emails from approximately 500 individuals to Members of Parliament and Senators, reflecting a nationwide grassroots response across provinces and major cities. The decision affirms the dignity of Dhārmic Canadians and Indigenous communities whose sacred symbol has long been mischaracterized in Western discourse.
On December 9, 2025, the Justice Committee acted on community input and voted to adopt the accurate terminology “Nazi Hakenkreuz.” The amendment upholds both the need to combat hate symbols in public spaces and the responsibility to protect the sacred Swastika’s millennia-old religious use within Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh traditions.
Legislative support proved pivotal. MPs Anthony Housefather, Larry Brock, Jamil Jivani, and Shuvolay Majumdar amplified community concerns within the current Parliament. Former MPs Chandra Arya and Peter Julian, as well as Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, have previously called for nuance in distinguishing the sacred Swastika from the Nazi emblem.
Interfaith collaboration strengthened the case for precision and fairness in law. Organizations such as the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism (ALCCA), Allied Voices for Israel (AVI), B’nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF), Canadian Women Against Antisemitism (CWAA), and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), alongside independent legal experts and several Jewish MPs, worked with Dharmic community organizations to advance a shared, principled position. Their contributions underscored a core insight: safeguarding one community’s sacred symbols enhances protections for all.
Stakeholders across communities emphasized that this clarification strengthens the Criminal Code’s focus on hate symbols while preserving religious freedom. Jewish partners highlighted that careful terminology enables effective enforcement against the unlawful display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz without harming the legitimate and sacred use of the Swastika. Dharmic partners affirmed that the amendment removes a persistent source of confusion and stigma, offering students, teachers, and families reassurance that their traditions are understood and respected in Canadian public life.
Four complementary strategies drove the outcome. First, Dharmic coordination ensured a unified message to the Justice Committee, with submissions from Hindu Federation, Hindu Canadian Foundation (HCF), Canadian Organizations of Hindu Heritage Education (CoHHE), Hindu Canadian Alliance (HCA), and the World Jain Organization, represented by Vijay Jain. A Buddhist temple coalition, organized via the Vesak Celebration Committee, included West End Buddhist Temple, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple, Cham Shan Buddhist Temple, and Karma Sonam Dargye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Temple.
Second, an unprecedented interfaith coalition with Jewish organizations—ALCCA, AVI, B’nai Brith Canada, CAEF, CWAA, CIJA—along with independent legal experts and supportive MPs, underscored that precise language in hate crime legislation is compatible with robust protections for religious practice. Third, strategic messaging and a comprehensive policy brief submitted by CoHNA documented the sacred history of the Swastika and the need for accurate legal terminology. Fourth, grassroots mobilization through advocacy platforms and partner efforts led to close to 9,000 emails from approximately 500 individuals, catalyzing meetings and sustained engagement.
The amendment achieves four concrete outcomes in Bill C-9. It (1) uses “Nazi Hakenkreuz” as the term for the prohibited hate symbol, (2) removes the ambiguous phrase “also known as the Nazi swastika” from the English text, (3) retains intent requirements so an offense applies only when a symbol is displayed with willful intent to promote hatred, and (4) maintains protections for education, history, journalism, art, and religious uses.
Canada now aligns with a growing international movement toward precise terminology. Australian states such as Victoria and New South Wales have banned Nazi symbols with explicit religious exemptions (2022–2023). Several U.S. states, including California, Washington, and Virginia, have criminalized Nazi symbols while protecting Dharmic religious use (2022–2025). Germany maintains the world’s strictest anti-Nazi laws and avoids conflating terms in legal text. In Canada, Peel Regional Police (Ontario) and Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (Quebec) updated hate crime reporting tools in 2024 to distinguish the symbols. These examples demonstrate that combating hate and protecting religious freedom can be achieved through careful, accurate language.
This decision carries academic, legal, and social significance. Academically, it corrects a long-standing historical error in public discourse. Legally, it strengthens targeted enforcement against hate symbols while safeguarding lawful religious expression. Socially, it fosters trust across communities—Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Jewish, and Indigenous—by affirming that the law can be both firm against hatred and fair toward faith.
Next steps remain. Bill C-9 continues in Committee as MPs deliberate the broader religious exemption clause in Section 319(3) of the Criminal Code, which is unrelated to the Swastika clarification. CoHNA will continue to monitor proceedings and share factual updates as the Bill advances through Parliament.
About CoHNA: The Coalition of Hindus of North America is a grassroots advocacy and civil rights organization dedicated to improving the understanding of Hinduism in North America through education, community engagement, and constructive dialogue that supports harmony among Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh traditions.
Inspired by this post on CoHNA.
