Bloc wants Liberal bill amended to remove religious exemption from hate speech laws: source
Criminal Code change to be proposed at committee studying anti-hate legislation
The Bloc Québécois is planning to introduce an amendment to a Liberal government bill that would remove a religious exemption from Canada’s hate speech laws, a source has told CBC News.
The Criminal Code currently includes an exemption for hate speech, "if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text."
The Bloc is expected to introduce the amendment to remove that section of the code as part of Bill C-9 — dubbed the Combatting Hate Act — during a clause-by-clause review at the House justice committee on Thursday afternoon. Rhéal Fortin is the Bloc member who sits on the justice committee.
CBC News has agreed to not name the source because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the proposed amendment.
The National Post reported earlier this week that the Liberals would support the amendment in order to pass C-9. CBC News has not confirmed that such a deal is in the works.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser previously seemed open to the committee exploring the idea of removing the religious exemption.
"I invite the committee to hear from witnesses on that, and if the majority of members agree to make this change, I see no problem with it," the minister told the committee last month.
Marc Miller, who had been chairing the justice committee before being promoted to cabinet earlier this week, said Wednesday that he was also open to the exemption.
"The reality is I don't think people should be using the Bible, the Qur'an or the Torah to escape from committing a hate crime or claim that the hate — what would otherwise be a hate crime — is done in the name of a religious text," Miller told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Conservatives have been pushing back against the idea of removing the religious exemptions clause from the Criminal Code in the wake of the National Post report.
Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on his X account that the change would "criminalize sections of the Bible, Qur'an, Torah and other sacred texts."
Advocates call for bill to be withdrawn entirely
Andrew Lawton, a Conservative MP on the justice committee, similarly said the amendment would "trample on freedom of expression."
"I'm going to continue to hold the line on this. My Conservative colleagues are going to continue to stand up for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and religious freedom," the MP said in a video posted to social media.
Bill C-9 proposes new Criminal Code offences, including one that would make it a crime to intentionally promote hatred against identifiable groups in public using certain hate- or terrorism-related symbols.
Those symbols include ones used during the Holocaust — such as the swastika and SS lightning bolts — or symbols associated with the government's list of terrorist entities, which includes the Proud Boys, Hamas and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The legislation would also make hate-motivated crimes a specific offence and crack down on willfully intimidating and obstructing people outside places of worship and other sensitive institutions.
On Wednesday morning, a coalition that includes civil liberties, community and labour groups called on the government to withdraw the bill entirely.
Tim McSorley of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group said during a news conference that the bill threatens free expression, freedom of assembly and the ability to engage in protest and dissent.
McSorley made the comments alongside representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council and Independent Jewish Voices.
If the bill clears committee, it will still face a final vote in the House before being sent off to the Senate.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Kate McKenna and The Canadian Press
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From: Lawton, Andrew - M.P. <andrew.lawton@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Dispersing the Fog
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Good day,
Thank you for contacting the office of MP Andrew Lawton.
To help us serve you as quickly as possible, please include your full name, address with postal code, and phone number if you haven’t already. Priority is given to residents of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South.
To find your MP, visit: ourcommons.ca/Members
Thank you,
Office of Andrew Lawton, MP
Elgin—St. Thomas—London South
AndrewLawtonMP.ca
From: Fraser, Sean - M.P. <Sean.Fraser@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Dispersing the Fog
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Thank you for your contacting the constituency office of Sean Fraser, Member of Parliament for Central Nova.
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From: Church, Leslie - M.P. <leslie.church@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Dispersing the Fog
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Hello,
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News from ICLMG
For Giving Tuesday: Help us protect civil liberties from the federal government’s multiple legislative attacks!
The federal government has introduced, and is rushing through Parliament, several bills that threaten the Charter rights and civil liberties of all people in Canada.
Our small team of two need your help to take these on!
Among these bills are:
Bill C-2, the “Strong Borders” Act, which is anti-privacy, anti-migrant and anti-refugee and will make us all less safe by:
- Allowing police and intelligence agencies warrantless access to our personal information, in violation of privacy rights.
- Granting the government the power to issue secret orders to internet service providers to modify their systems to facilitate surveillance and possibly undermine encryption, placing our data at risk.
- Allowing Canada Post to open and search our letter mail.
- And more!
Working with 300+ civil society partners, we managed to slow it down for now. However, the xenophobic provisions, based in fear-mongering around migrants and refugees, have been copied into Bill C-12, which is now being rushed through Parliament, including a committee study in which civil society groups were blocked from testifying!
Bill C-12, the “Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders” Act, will discriminate, violate the Charter and put people in danger by:
- Allowing for the mass cancellation or suspension of immigration documents and applications (ex: visas, permanent residency cards) for entire groups of people, including individuals from certain countries, based on undefined “public interest” reasons.
- Authorizing the sharing of sensitive personal and immigration information, putting people at risk in Canada and abroad.
- Blocking anyone from seeking refugee status in Canada after one year from when they entered the country—even if their home country becomes dangerous in the meantime.
- Increasing the harm arising from the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement, which abandons many refugees to the dangerous U.S. immigration system.
- Doubles down on prohibition-based drug policy that has demonstrably failed to protect public health and safety.
SAY NO MORE – I’ll donate to help the ICLMG defend rights & freedoms for all in Canada!
In keeping with its flooding the zone strategy, the Liberal government introduced another bill that will criminalize dissent, chill free speech and harm the communities that the government says it wishes to help protect:
Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, will:
- Give police discretionary powers to determine what are protesters’ intentions and which symbols are associated with listed terrorist entities – an arbitrary, due-process violating and political tool that has nothing to do with “hate” and should be abolished. It will lead to more arbitrary arrests and disruptions of peaceful assemblies.
- Increase the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity and anti-genocide protests as they, their symbols and their slogans are often falsely associated with terrorism.
- Send a chill amongst those who would otherwise take part in protests as these new broad and discretionary powers are combined with increased jail sentences.
- Remove the existing requirements for attorney general approval of laying hate propaganda charges, allowing police to make these decisions, and compounding these concerns.
To ensure the Liberal government protects our rights, we need your help!
Please click below to donate towards our work:
And please share in your networks. Thank you!
Xan & Tim
The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) is a national coalition of Canadian civil society organizations that was established after the adoption of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 in order to protect and promote human rights and civil liberties in the context of the so-called “war on terror.” The coalition brings together 45 NGOs, unions, professional associations, faith groups, environmental organizations, human rights and civil liberties advocates, as well as groups representing immigrant and refugee communities in Canada.
Our mandate is to defend the civil liberties and human rights set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, federal and provincial laws (such as the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Canadian Human Rights Act, provincial charters of human rights or privacy legislation), and international human rights instruments (such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment).
Concerns
Active in the promotion and defense of rights within their own respective sectors of Canadian society, ICLMG members have come together within this coalition to share their concerns about national and international anti-terrorism legislation, and other national security measures, and their impact on civil liberties, human rights, refugee protection, minority groups, political dissent, governance of charities, international cooperation and humanitarian assistance.
ICLMG member organizations are deeply concerned with the impact of contemporary violence, including all forms of political violence, and the use of terror, whether by states or non-state elements. Such violence and tactics of terror are a threat to the deepening of democratic and open societies and governments worldwide. Consequently, we support all legitimate efforts to combat terrorism which is in itself a serious attack on human rights, but argue that these efforts must always respect human rights norms.
At the same time, while we recognize the obligation of states to protect citizens and others on their territories from violence, we regret the way in which most states are interpreting this obligation by restricting democratic freedoms. We do not properly defend democracy, the rule of law and a culture of human rights by abdicating these very principles. Security and freedom are not opposites. Respect for fundamental rights is an essential condition, a vital component of security.
In particular the ICLMG has raised concerns about:
- Canada’s anti-terrorism legislation and other counter-terrorism measures;
- the harmonization of Canada’s security policies and practices with those of the United States, especially with regards to border controls and the creation of “terrorist” watchlists and no-fly lists;
- the dynamics and problematics of information sharing between states;
- the need for rigorous independent and integrated oversight mechanisms over national security operations of the RCMP and other security/intelligence agencies, including among others CSIS, CSE, CBSA and Transport Canada;
- the lack of due process, transparency and accountability in the use of security certificates and secret trials to deport landed immigrants and refugees suspected of terrorist links;
- the rapid deployment of a global infrastructure of mass surveillance and the erosion of privacy rights, civil liberties and freedoms;
- the treatment of Maher Arar, Abdullah Almaki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati, Muayed Nureddin and others detained and tortured abroad;
- the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, the treatment of Omar Khadr and the growing disregard for the rule of law and international covenants in the context of the U.S. led “war on terror.”
Areas of intervention
The areas of intervention of the coalition include:
- Monitoring the evolution and the application of Canada’s security and “anti-terrorist” agenda and its impact on civil society organizations and communities;
- Disseminating information to ICLMG members as well as to interested and affected organizations and communities;
- Developing joint and concerted responses to ensure transparency and due process where specific organizations and/or vulnerable communities are affected;
- Promoting public awareness of the implications of the laws and other anti-terrorist measures;
- Lobbying and carrying out advocacy work with policy makers, members of Parliament, Parliamentary committees, etc.; and
- Working with international partners and coalitions, as well as intervening at international bodies such as the United Nations.
Since its inception, ICLMG has served as a round-table for strategic exchange — including international and North/South exchange — among organizations and communities affected by the application, internationally, of new national security (“anti-terrorist”) laws. ICLMG has provided a forum for reflection, joint analysis and cooperative action in response to Canada’s own anti-terrorist measures and their effects, and the risk to persons and groups flowing from the burgeoning national security state and its obsession with the control and movement of people.
An important aspect of the role of the ICLMG is the dissemination of information related to human rights in the context of counter-terrorism and the expanding – and largely unaccountable – national security apparatus. This information is distributed to members of the coalition who in turn broadcast it to their own networks.
Finally, further to its mandate, the ICLMG has intervened in individual cases where there have been allegations of serious violation of civil liberties and human rights. The ICLMG has also intervened to contest proposed legislation, regulations and practices that contravene the Canadian Constitution, other Canadian laws and international human rights standards.
Members and partners
Member organisations
- Amnesty International
- Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale
- B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
- Canadian Arab Federation
- Canadian Association of University Teachers
- Canadian Council for Refugees
- Canadian Ethnocultural Council
- Canadian Federation of Students
- Canadian Friends Service Committee
- Canadian Labour Congress
- Canadian Muslim Forum
- Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association
- Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council
- Canadian Union of Postal Workers
- Canadian Union of Public Employees
- Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
- Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
- Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
- CARE Canada
- Confederation of Canadian Unions
- Cooperation Canada
- COPE – Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union
- Council of Canadians
- CUSO
- David Suzuki Foundation
- Development and Peace
- ETC Group
- Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec
- Greenpeace
- Human Concern International
- Independent Jewish Voices
- International Development and Relief Foundation
- Inter Pares
- Islamic Relief Canada
- Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
- Ligue des droits et libertés
- National Council of Canadian Muslims
- National Union of Public and General Employees
- Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
- Mining Watch Canada
- PEN Canada
- Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund
- Public Service Alliance of Canada
- Unifor
- United Steelworkers
Gerry Barr; Senior Adviser Public Affairs, Directors Guild of Canada, and former President and CEO of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.
Hon. Edward Broadbent; former leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party and first president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.
Hon. David MacDonald; former Canadian Secretary of State and former minister of Communications.
Kevin Malseed; former Inter Pares representative for ICLMG.
Brian Murphy; independent writer, policy analyst and human rights advocate.
Roch Tassé; political analyst with special focus on human rights, civil liberties and national security, and former National Coordinator of ICLMG (2002-2015).
James L. Turk; Distinguished Visiting Professor, Ryerson University, and former Executive Director, Canadian Association of University Teachers.
The Very Rev. Lois Wilson; former moderator of the United Church of Canada and retired senator.
The late Hon. Warren Allmand (September 19, 1932 – December 7, 2016); former Solicitor General of Canada and a past president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights & Democracy).
The late Hon. Flora MacDonald (June 3, 1926 – July 26, 2015); former minister of Foreign Affairs and former minister of Communications.
Partners and Collaborators
Staff
Tim McSorley (he/him) joined the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group as the coalition’s National Coordinator in November 2016. Combining his passion for civil liberties and social justice with his background in journalism, policy analysis and communications, Tim digs into the impact of government policies and works with allies and partners to fight for change. Previously, Tim was the coordinator for the Media Co-op independent media network and The Dominion magazine. He also served as coordinator for the Voices-Voix Coalition, defending the right to dissent and protecting democratic rights in Canada. He is a graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, with a degree in journalism and political science.
national.coordination[at]iclmg.ca
613-241-5298
Xan Dagenais (they/them) is the Communications and Research Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. They completed a Masters’ degree in Law and Social Justice at the University of Ottawa, a certificate in Women’s Studies at Concordia University, and a Bachelor in International Studies at the University of Montreal. Prior to working at ICLMG, they worked as a teaching and research assistant at the Human Rights Research and Education Center of the University of Ottawa.
communications[at]iclmg.ca
613-241-5298
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