Justice minister suggests Liberals could limit debate to push through stalled hate speech bill

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Sean Fraser suggested Tuesday the Liberals are ready to limit debate if their bill banning hate symbols that also removes the religious exemption to some hate speech laws remains stuck in committee much longer.

“Well, at a certain point in time, we are going to say: we want to make good on our campaign commitment. We made a commitment to Canadians to advance these important protections to ensure Canadians can enjoy religious freedoms in practice, not just on paper. At a certain point in time, of course, we will move forward if we have enough support,” Fraser told reporters Tuesday.

“If we can come together, that would be the perfect outcome, but we won’t let perfection be the enemy of progress for much longer.”

Fraser was referring to Bill C-9, which has been mired in debate at the Commons Justice Committee since November as the Liberals, Bloc and Conservatives argue about a proposal to eliminate the clause exempting religious speech from charges of willful promotion of hate.

Bill C-9 proposes to create a new offence for intimidating someone to the point of blocking their access to a place of worship or another centre used by an identifiable group. It would also criminalize the act of promoting hate by displaying a hate or terror symbol, such as one tied to a listed terrorist organization or a swastika.

While he insisted all-party consent to end committee debate on C-9 is the ideal solution, the minister did not specify how the Liberals would move the bill forward if that doesn’t happen soon.

Absent a deal with all parties on the Justice committee, his likely only option at this point is a motion for time allocation that would likely be supported by the Bloc Québécois.

A time allocation motion is used to limit time for debate on a bill to a certain number of hours or meetings, after which the bill is moved to the next stage. They are usually brought forward in the House of Commons but can also be tabled directly at committee.

Because time allocation motions are colloquially referred to as a “guillotine” to curtail debate, minority governments are usually slow to turn to them.

Since the Liberals form a minority government, they would necessarily need the support from another party to pass such a motion. The most likely dance partner is the Bloc, which struck a deal with the Liberals to pass C-9 in exchange for an amendment removing the religious exemption defence from hate speech laws.

Bloc Québecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said he received assurances from Prime Minister Mark Carney last week that passing Bill C-9 and the removal of the religious exemption would happen.

Currently, section 319 of the Criminal Code exempts individuals from being convicted of promoting hateful or antisemitic speech if they expressed “in good faith” an opinion “based on a belief in a religious text.”

The removal of the exemption raised an uproar from Conservatives, civil rights groups and many faith groups, who fear the change could stifle Canadians’ freedom of speech and right to practise their faith.

That pushed the Liberals on Monday to propose adding “clarifying language” to the bill they say would state “in plain terms that nothing in this legislation affects worship, sermons, prayer, religious education, peaceful debate, or even the good faith of reading and discussion of religious texts”.

But Conservatives on the Justice committee pushed back on that as well, arguing it needed to be amended to fulfill that purpose. Those amendments are slated to be debated Wednesday afternoon.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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