Liberals Agree to Restrict Religious Speech
In a recent article, I wrote about Bill C-9, the Liberal government’s proposed “speech control law” – a muzzling of Christian expression that Ebenezer Scrooge would be proud of. Since that time, there have been some significant developments that I want to share with you.
The most important and encouraging news is the enormous groundswell of public outrage over this draconian proposal. Not only have we garnered nearly 5,000 signatures on our petition to stop Bill C-9, but many prominent politicians, public figures, as well as clergy and public-interest groups are voicing their opposition in the strongest of terms.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association along with dozens of other groups have called on the Liberals to reverse-course, cautioning that Bill C-9 “risks serious infringements on fundamental freedoms protected under both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international law.”
A multi-faith group of Christians, Jews, and Muslims has issued a joint statement declaring: “Bill C-9 is not a hate-crime bill. It is Canada’s most significant attempt in a generation to restrict protest and silence dissent. Bill C-9 does not protect the public from harm. It protects institutions from accountability, expands punitive policing, and criminalizes the democratic expression of communities across Canada.”
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has warned that Bill C-9 will marginalize traditional Christians, stating, “We urge the committee to reject any amendment proposed to remove the good faith religious belief defence.”
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated: “the proposed elimination of the ‘good faith’ religious-text defence raises significant concerns… creating uncertainty for faith communities, clergy, educators, and others who may fear that the expression of traditional moral or doctrinal teachings could be misinterpreted as hate speech and could subject the speaker to proceedings that threaten imprisonment of up to two years.”
Andrew Lawton, MP for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South, a stalwart defender of free speech, rebuked the Liberals in their committee meeting on Bill C-9. He warned: “There are people who have said, ‘If the Liberals are going to criminalize quoting Scripture, they better start building new jails.’” He also added: “It appears that thought crime is the only crime the Liberals seem to want to penalize.”
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his radical Liberals have plugged their ears to the rising chorus of concern. On December 9th, despite unified Conservative opposition, the Liberals agreed with the secularist Bloc Quebecois to remove all “religious exemptions” in hate speech prosecutions if Bill C-9 passes.
This means that Christians will no longer be able to claim a “good-faith” legal exemption for sharing the Word of God and expressing their sincerely-held beliefs. That will apply to pastors in churches, teachers in Christian schools, and ordinary believers sharing their Bible-based beliefs and values in any type of public setting or venue.
This means that portions of the Bible could be censored or banned in public settings – including churches and schools – if deemed “hateful” by the police or by a judge.
One of our supporters recently reached out to a Liberal Member of Parliament concerning Bill C-9. The response received has unwittingly revealed the inherent danger of Bill C-9. That response, written on behalf of MP Emma Harrison of Peterborough, states: “When a person’s actions cause another person to feel intimidated or unsafe simply because of who they are... that is when the act should be criminalized.”
In other words, if an LGBT-identifying person merely “feels” that a Christian is intimidating him or her by sharing God’s Word about homosexuality or transgenderism, that person can report it as a hate crime, and the police will be obligated to investigate and lay charges under the terms of Bill C-9.
This Scrooge-like type of “feelings-based” prosecution is what Liberals view as totally acceptable.
It is vital that we stop Bill C-9 before it passes in Parliament, especially now that the “religious exemptions” have been removed.
Petition to Stop Bill C-9: https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/petition/id/99