The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) pledged to continue preaching gospel truths despite policymakers backing an amendment that removes religious defenses from the country’s hate speech laws.
The House of Commons in Ottawa passed Bill C-9, the Combating Hate Act, on Wednesday (June 17). The bill, which amends the Criminal Code regarding hate propaganda, hate crimes and access to religious or cultural places, received royal assent the next day.
The full Senate previously approved the legislation June 4 without adding protections for religious expression that Conservative Sen. Yonah Martin requested.
The legislation expands hate crime protections by prohibiting the public display of certain hate-related symbols, establishing new offenses for hate-motivated crimes, and criminalizing the obstruction of access to places of religious worship or community gatherings. Crucially for faith groups, the law removes specific religious defenses for hate speech.
In a blog post questioning next steps, the EFC noted that many Canadian Christians wonder how the passage of Bill C-9 will affect them.
“The law removes the good-faith religious belief defense,” the EFC stated. “If a person is charged and found guilty of willfully promoting hatred, there will no longer be a defense for ‘good faith’ religious belief.”
According to the national alliance, this defense stood as one of four safeguards against the offense of willfully promoting hatred. Other defenses remain law: establishing that statements were true, relevant to the public benefit, or pointed out in good faith to facilitate their removal.
“The willful promotion of hatred is a relatively rare charge in Canada,” the EFC stated. “Intent is a key element of this offense. A person must intend, by their communication, to promote hatred against an identifiable group.”
The EFC confirmed that a willful promotion of hatred offense does not apply to private conversations. The group added that, until now, the legal system maintained a very high bar for this offense.
“We have not seen many people charged with promoting hatred for expressing religious beliefs in Canada,” the EFC said. “The religious belief defense has only been invoked a handful of times and never successfully.”
The EFC stated that courts previously ruled that the religious belief defense did not allow a person to intentionally promote hatred under a “veneer of religious speech as a kind of Trojan horse to carry intended messages of hate.” Instead, the defense helped protect speech in “borderline cases.”
The EFC lobbied for the religious belief defense to remain as a safeguard.
“It ensured the hate speech provisions – intended to protect identifiable groups –weren’t used to silence or suppress the good faith expression of religious beliefs that others may find objectionable or offensive,” the group stated.
The amendment removes a legal protection for people facing arrest for hate speech while sharing religious beliefs. This change fuels the EFC’s concern that the law will make people hesitant to speak freely about their faith.
“It is not clear what impact the removal of the religious belief defense will have over time, and whether its removal could broaden the understanding of ‘wilful promotion of hatred,’” the EFC stated.
The government claimed citizens could continue practicing freedom of religious belief without fear of reprisals. Following concerns from the EFC, other Christian groups, and various civil liberty groups, lawmakers added a clarification clause to the bill. This clause directs courts to consider the protection of good-faith religious practice from the outset within the definition of hate, rather than treating it as a defense after an arrest.
“We would welcome an approach that makes clear that the good faith practice and expression of religious belief isn’t a hate crime to begin with,” the EFC stated, though it labeled the clause somewhat “circular” and short of the expressed goal.
“As Christians in Canada, we will keep preaching the gospel and speaking truth, clearly linking our words to Scripture. Scripture in and of itself has never been found to be the willful promotion of hatred. Removal of the religious belief defense doesn’t itself criminalize the reading of or teaching from Scripture.”
Speech should always reflect God’s love for neighbors, the group stated, referencing biblical texts such as John 3:16 and Philippians 2:5-8 to underline the importance of love and following Christ’s example in serving others.
“These core beliefs should root and ground all of our communications and actions. It is wise and fulfills the Gospel to make that clear,” the EFC stated.
The EFC plans to monitor the effects of Bill C-9 and will continue to advocate for freedom of religion and belief.
