Liberals’ Anti-Hate Bill Set to Become Law

The federal government’s new hate crime bill, which has been opposed by Conservatives and religious groups, is set to become law after passing through Parliament.

Bill C-9, known as the Combatting Hate Act, is currently awaiting royal assent now that it has passed through both the House of Commons and the Senate.

The bill passed third reading in the Senate on June 4, usually the final legislative step before royal assent. However, it was then sent back to the House of Commons to consider a Senate amendment adding the noose to the list of prohibited symbols that cannot be used to wilfully promote hatred.

The House passed the amendment with 189 MPs voting in favour and 128 MPs voting against. All parties except the Conservatives voted for the amendment.

The House also voted down a Conservative amendment that sought to withdraw the bill, with 132 voting for and 184 voting against it. The Conservatives, NDP, and the Green Party voted in favour of it, while the Liberals and Bloc Québécois voted against it.

The bill creates new criminal offences associated with intimidation and obstructing access to places of worship, as well as a new offence for intentionally promoting hatred through the public display of certain symbols.

An amendment to the bill that was proposed by the Bloc and adopted by the Liberals removes the religious defence to hate speech in section 319 of the Criminal Code, which currently protects Canadians from charges of wilfully promoting hatred when expressing religious beliefs in good faith.

Conservatives and religious groups have opposed the amendment, arguing that it could infringe on freedom of religion and expression and potentially expose people to prosecution for quoting or teaching religious scriptures.

Meanwhile, the Liberals have said Bill C-9 is important for combatting hate, including the rise of anti-Semitism and hate-motivated violence.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has defended the amendment to remove religious defence to hate speech, saying freedom of religion in Canada is a “fundamental guarantee” under section 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and would not be impacted by the amendment.

Conservative MP Andrew Lawton has said the removal of religious defence means it will be “easier to prosecute someone for quoting a scripture or expressing a religious viewpoint that someone finds offensive.”

During debate in the House of Commons on June 16, Conservative MP Roman Baber said “nothing that minority communities are actually worried about in terms of security” would be changed by Bill C-9.

Baber said there are existing laws to deal with mischief, intimidation, arson, or assault targeting Jewish communities, and the religious defence in the Criminal Code “does not excuse incitement to violence” as it only applies to statements that are spoken in good faith.

Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary for the Government House Leader, said Bill C-9 would protect institutions such as community centres, churches, gurdwaras, temples, mosques, and synagogues from protests that are intimidating to people who want to attend those institutions. He also said it would protect Canadians from hatred-motivated offences.

“We made a commitment in the last federal election to deal with hatred, and that is what this legislation would do,” Lamoureux said.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.