Christian, Muslim and Jewish organizations are responding to a proposal to eliminate a religious exemption to Canada’s federal hate crimes legislation.
In September, the government introduced Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, which would introduce offences for publicly displaying symbols such as the swastika, impeding access to places of worship or other social centres, or committing offences motivated by hate.
The minority Liberals need support from other parties to pass the bill. On Dec. 1, the National Post reported that the Liberals had secured the Bloc Québécois’ support for the bill by agreeing to amend the Criminal Code to remove an existing religious exemption from Canada’s hate speech laws.
Currently, the Criminal Code states that, “No person shall be convicted of an offence … if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”
The amendment received support from Marc Miller, who had been chairing the justice committee before being promoted to cabinet as minister of Canadian identity and culture.
“The reality is I don’t think people should be using the Bible, the Qur’an or the Torah to escape from committing a hate crime or claim that the hate — what would otherwise be a hate crime — is done in the name of a religious text,” Miller told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Bill C-9 has passed the first and second readings and is undergoing review by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
‘Pluralistic and inclusive’
In response to the proposal, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney saying that while they “unequivocally affirm the importance of condemning hatred,” the proposed elimination of the “good faith” religious-text defence raises significant concerns.
Removal of this provision, the conference said, “risks creating uncertainty for faith communities, clergy, educators, and others who may fear that the expression of traditional moral or doctrinal teachings could be misinterpreted as hate speech …
“Eliminating a clear statutory safeguard will likely therefore have a chilling effect on religious expression, even if prosecutions remain unlikely in practice.”
The Canadian Council of Churches, which represents 26 member denominations in Canada, does not have an official position on the amendment.
At the same time, the council’s general secretary Peter Noteboom said, “we have a longstanding commitment to religious freedom in a Canadian society that is pluralistic and inclusive of different religious traditions.”
One issue for Noteboom is who gets to define which religious references are hateful. What one person considers hateful may be an important religious tenet for another, he said.
Noteboom wishes the government would meet with religious leaders to discuss the proposed amendment. “They should be proactive and bring us to the table,” he said, echoing a similar request from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“It would be good to have a public conversation about this.”
Also expressing concern is the Canadian Council of Imams, an organization that supports Canadian imams and Islamic religious leaders.
In a statement, the council said, “the concern is not with criminalizing genuine hate speech. Rather, it is with the risk that religious texts, which are not inherently hateful, could be misinterpreted according to evolving societal norms.”
This could create a chilling effect on religious education, discourse and worship, the council said.
It is urging Parliament to “uphold the Charter-protected right of Canadians to freely study, teach, and discuss their faith traditions while continuing to ensure safety, dignity, and security for all.”
Move quickly
In a joint statement, various Jewish organizations — namely, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B’nai Brith Canada, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism and Canadian Women Against Antisemitism — acknowledged there are differing opinions about the amendment.
But, they said, “freedom of religion would remain protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and by the high threshold established by the courts when considering whether conduct constitutes the willful promotion of hatred.”
The groups are urging the government to move quickly with the hate speech legislation due to “the serious threats to the Jewish community … our expectations for government action have not changed.”
The Conservative Party of Canada opposes the removal of the exemption for religious groups. On the social media platform X, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre posted that the change would “criminalize sections of the Bible, Qur’an, Torah and other sacred texts.”
On Monday, a CBC report indicated that any discussion about the amendment is on hold since the deal between the Liberals and the Bloc was made without the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Can we not set up a law in this country that focuses on penalizing any actual CRIMINAL ACT THAT’S BEEN COMMITTED instead of trying to set up a law against someone who is trying to intimidate?
We have free speech in this country. We also have the right (and the good sense) to completely ignore someone who is speaking against our beliefs. But no one should have the right to commit any criminal act against another person – for any reason. Wouldn’t that make things simpler than trying to determine what is a hate related offense? Am I missing something?
“The reality is I don’t think people should be using the Bible, the Qur’an or the Torah to escape from committing a hate crime or claim that the hate — what would otherwise be a hate crime — is done in the name of a religious text,”
I agree 100%. Portions of all of the above texts can be considered support for hate crimes!!