Criminal Code change to be proposed at committee studying anti-hate legislation
Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 3:57 PM EST | Last Updated: December
Estimated 4 minutes
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Advocates call for bill to be withdrawn entirely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.
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