A Canadian House of Commons committee on Tuesday (Dec. 9) removed a “religious belief defense” from a hate crime bill, a move a Christian body had warned against as detrimental to legal protections for religious expression by Christians and others.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights approved an amendment to remove the “good faith religious belief defense” from Canada’s hate speech law, Section 319 (3) of the Criminal Code. The committee was meeting on federal Bill C-9, known as the “Combatting Hate Act” on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario.
The EFC had stated in a blog on Tuesday (Dec. 9) before the amendment, “There has been disturbing debate in the Justice Committee about the defense and whether biblical texts and other religions’ texts are hateful. This defense is an important protection for minority religious groups. We are very concerned that the defense could be removed.”
The EFC blog, entitled, “Hate crime bills controversy” expressed concerns about the bill following concerns Jewish communities in Canada raised about antisemitism.
The committee vote to amend the bill was fronted by Bloc Québécois, a secularist federal party in the province of Quebec, and the Liberals party. The committee recommended legally removing protections in effect “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 bill has nearly completed the committee review following the vote and will return to the House of Commons and Senate for further debate.
The EFC pointed out that removal of the good faith religious belief defense was not previously part of Bill C-9. The Bloc Quebecois has been advocating for removal of the defense and announced on Dec. 1 that it had reached an agreement with the Liberals to remove it, according to the EFC. Media reports indicated the agreement was made without the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The evangelical body anticipated the amended bill, with removal of religious expression legal protections, is likely to become law.
The EFC actively campaigned against the amendment. This included meetings with members of the Justice Committee to talk about the importance of the defense and why it should be maintained.
“Our communications to committee members and our written submission to the committee explained why this defense matters,” stated the EFC. “We have highlighted the risk of the defense being removed to the EFC’s affiliate denominations, organizations, postsecondary institutions and churches.”
EFC President David Guretzki wrote to the prime minister’s office asking for the defense to be maintained.
The “good faith” religious belief defense has been one of four defenses against the charge of willfully promoting hatred in the Criminal Code. The defense is used only when a court has determined that a person has willfully promoted hatred, stated the EFC. It has been used very few times and never successfully, has not been overused or misused and courts have applied it very carefully, the group stated.
The EFC stated that the defense does not protect a religious person from any criminal activity. It applies only to willful promotion of hatred and willful promotion of antisemitism as part of the Criminal Code.
“This defense protects ‘good faith’ or honest belief,” stated the EFC. “As we’ve explained, the courts have made it clear that the defense does not allow religious expression to be used as a Trojan horse to carry intended messages of hate. It does not allow a person to use religious texts to shield willful messages of hate within religious expression.”
The EFC’s primary concerns with the original version of Bill C-9 were that the definition of hatred had been watered down from that used by courts, and that it would remove the requirement for attorney general consent for hate crimes charges to be filed.
“Our submission to the Justice Committee recommended changes to the bill,” stated the EFC. “The EFC’s brief also strongly recommended that the Committee reject any proposal to remove the good faith religious belief defense.”
