With the help of the Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal Party of Canada passed the contentious Bill C-9 through the House of Commons on March 26.
Conservatives, the New Democrat Party (NDP) and Green Party members voted against the so-called Combatting Hate Act, which basically removes the religious exemption from Canada's hate speech law, amending the Criminal Code by codifying a legal definition of "hatred."
Justice Minister Sean Fraser has stated the legislation will "in no way, shape or form" prevent religious leaders from reading their texts, or will it criminalize faith, but Dr. Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College, is not convinced.
"The Bible is no longer a defense that would get you out of jail," he summarizes. "This, of course, will contribute to a European-like police state, where last year, 12,000 people in Britain were arrested and put in handcuffs and charged with a crime for posting something on social media."
Other critics have voiced concerns, noting that, depending on how "hate" is defined, such laws could potentially be used to scrutinize traditional religious views on topics like marriage, even if that is not the stated intention. Still, official arguments indicate the focus remains on protecting communities from willful violence and hate, not penalizing the expression of religious views for biblical marriage or about the God of the Bible.
Again looking to the U.K., where most of the charges are about hate speech that offended Muslims and the LGBTQ community, McVety says this is really all about the implementation of the Islamic anti-blasphemy laws.
"This is all about stopping people from blaspheming Allah or Mohammed or the Muslims in any way and also blaspheming the transgender community," he tells AFN.
As the Combatting Hate Act has moved to the Senate for review, free speech advocacy groups in the U.S. like Alliance Defending Freedom and politicians like Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have raised concerns or commented on the implications of Canada's speech limitations on freedom of expression in America.
