Bill C-9 passed House of Commons and heads to Senate after lawmakers removed religious defense provision
By Catholics for Catholics
A hate speech bill from Canada is raising eyebrows, as a backlash from critics warn that it could censor religious speech and lead to some people being prosecuted for quoting the bible,
Introduced by Sean Fraser, a Canadian Liberal Justice Minister, Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, passed the House of Commons on March 25 and now heads to the Senate. The measure would swell Canada’s hate speech laws, form a new hate-crime offense and add penalties for intimidating or blocking people from accessing houses of worship, cultural spaces, schools, senior residences and cemeteries, according to a story by Fox News.
The measure, according to Christian and Muslim groups, could affect sermons, religious debate and other faith-based expression, while the Liberal government and some Jewish advocacy groups say the bill is aimed at combating antisemitism, not criminalizing religion.
A Canadian Conservative member of Parliament, Andrew Lawton, who is against the bill, said the legislation could leave faith communities vulnerable to prosecution for sharing their beliefs or quoting Scripture.
“Bill C-9 makes it easier for people of faith and others to be criminally charged because of views that other people take offense to,” he told Fox News Digital. “The bill weakens protections for freedom of expression and freedom of religion, especially with the removal of the longstanding religious defense, which has stipulated that religious beliefs and religious texts expressed in good faith cannot be seen as ‘hateful.’”
Lawton said he is not exaggerating when he mentions that the bill’s safeguards are not enough, cautioning that Liberal officials have already indicated that people could be prosecuted for quoting certain passages from the Bible.
“It’s not for government to decide which religious beliefs are legitimate or not,” he added. “People of faith can and should debate this. But it’s incredibly concerning when a Liberal cabinet minister says that certain verses of Scripture are so inherently hateful that prosecutors should be able to press charges against those who quote them.”
During a House justice committee hearing last October, Liberal Party MP Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, suggested certain passages from the Bible were inherently hateful toward homosexuals and questioned the Criminal Code’s initial carve out for religious statements made in “good faith.”
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