OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A government insider has revealed that Liberals plan to remove religious exemptions from Canada’s hate-speech laws.
According to insider information published December 1 by the National Post, Liberals have agreed to amend Bill C-9, the “Combating Hate Act,” to allow Canadians to be punished for quoting Scripture, as part of a deal with the Bloc Québécois to keep Liberals in power.
“The removal of the religious exemption is expected to come via an amendment to the Criminal Code in the form of Bill C-9 at the parliamentary justice committee that will be supported by both the Liberals and Bloc, a senior government source confirmed,” the report stated.
Bill C-9, as reported by LifeSiteNews, has been blasted by constitutional experts as allowing empowered police and the government to go after those it deems have violated a person’s “feelings” in a “hateful” way.
Now, the Bloc amendment seeks to further restrict free speech. The amendment would remove the “religious exemption” defense, which has historically protected individuals from conviction for willful promotion of hatred if the statements were made “in good faith” and based on a “religious subject” or a “sincerely held” interpretation of religious texts such as passages from the Bible, Quran, or Torah.
As a result, quoting the Bible, Quran, or Torah to condemn abortion, homosexuality, or LGBT propaganda could be considered criminal activity.
Shortly after the proposed amendment was shared on social media, Conservatives launched a petition, calling “on the Liberal government to protect religious freedom, uphold the right to read and share sacred texts, and prevent government overreach into matters of faith.”
Already, in October, Liberal MP Marc Miller said that certain passages of the Bible are “hateful” because of what it says about homosexuality and those who recite the passages should be jailed.
“Clearly there are situations in these texts where these statements are hateful,” Miller said. “They should not be used to invoke or be a defense, and there should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.”
His comments were immediately blasted by Conservative politicians throughout Canada, with Alberta provincial conservative MLA Dan Williams and Minister of Municipal Affairs saying, “I find it abhorrent when MPs sitting in Ottawa — or anyone in positions of power — use their voice to attack faith.”
“Here, Marc Miller, a former Trudeau front bench Minister and current MP, calls the Holy Bible ‘hateful’ and asks if prosecutors should be able to press charges based on what scripture you read in church or synagogue,” he observed.
“The wider implication is of course one we are familiar with from the media and from progressives in the public square: namely that Christians and Jews themselves are steeped in hatred,” Williams continued. “This intentional mangling of our faith is gross. Full stop. And those who are actually pushing this hate should be called out.”
