Conservatives say removal of religious exemption in hate-speech laws an assault on freedom of speech

OTTAWA — Conservatives say a deal between Liberals and the Bloc Québécois to remove a religious exemption from hate-speech laws in exchange for passing a bill targeting hate and terror symbols is an “assault” on freedom of speech and religion.

But the Bloc Québécois said the change was necessary to help prosecute rising hateful and antisemitic rhetoric, often made under the guise of exempted religious speech.

Both parties were reacting to a National Post report Monday that the governing Liberals and opposition Bloc had agreed to add an amendment to Bill C-9 removing what is frequently referred to as the “religious exemption” in exchange for the Bloc’s support for the legislation.

Currently, the law exempts hateful or antisemitic speech if the speaker expressed “in good faith” an opinion “based on a belief in a religious text.”

The Bloc has pushed for years for the religious exemption to disappear, even tabling a bill in 2023 to that effect. At the time, the Quebec party pointed to comments by Montreal Imam Adil Charkaoui calling for the extermination of “Zionist aggressors” during a recent public prayer.

“Speech that incites hatred is a criminal act, regardless of whether it is uttered under the guise of religion or not,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said in a statement Monday confirming the deal with the Liberals.

“Our amendment will require the government to act to counter such hate speech, which has been on the rise since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, and will at the same time contribute to ensuring greater religious neutrality of the State,” added the Bloc’s justice critic Rhéal Éloi Fortin.

The Bloc’s efforts were supported by many Jewish and LGBTQ organizations, but was criticized by free speech advocates and various Christian groups as an attack on freedom of speech and religion.

That criticism was reprised by the Conservatives on Monday following National Post’s report on the deal to remove the religious exemption.

“ Liberal-Bloc amendments to C-9 will criminalize sections of the Bible, Quran, Torah, and other sacred texts,” Poilievre wrote on social media.

“Conservatives will oppose this latest Liberal assault on freedom of expression and religion.”

Conservative Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner called on all other parties to oppose the amendment to C-9.

“ This is an unprecedented assault on Canadian religious freedom and must be stopped. Everyone, of all political stripe must get behind this ,” she wrote on social media.

As part of the deal with the Bloc, the Liberals are also expected to back off plans to eliminate the need for a provincial attorney general’s sign-off to pursue a hate-propaganda prosecution. The move will likely be supported by both the Bloc and Conservatives.

Quebec’s Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who has called on the federal government for years to remove the religious exemption defence, celebrated the deal between Liberals and Bloc on social media .

National Post

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