Fraser to speak to religious communities about religious exemption for hate

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Sean Fraser said he’ll speak with representatives from religious communities after Liberal MPs backed a move by the Bloc Québécois to remove the religious exemption for hate speech from the Criminal Code.

He told reporters Wednesday his team has been meeting with different faith communities in recent days.

“I am personally, over the next number of weeks, going to be engaging as well to make sure that we fully, first, understand the nature of the concerns being addressed, but we also have an opportunity to share our perspective as to what the Bloc amendment would do,” he said.

Fraser said those conversations will then inform what happens with the bill further in the Parliamentary process.

At a House of Commons committee meeting on Tuesday, Liberal MPs supported a Bloc amendment to the government’s hate crime bill.

The bill creates new offences for intimidating or obstructing someone outside a religious or cultural institution. It makes it a criminal offence to wilfully promote hate through the use of hate symbols, including symbols of designated terrorist entities, and would define “hatred” in criminal law for the first time, codifying a definition put forward by the Supreme Court of Canada.

But much of the recent political focus has centered around the Bloc’s efforts to use the bill to eliminate the religious exemption in the Criminal Code, against Conservative opposition.

Fraser said in a social media post Monday the amendment would not have an impact on freedom of religion.

“In nearly 20 years of this defence existing, we are not aware of a single case in which courts relied on section 319(3)(b) to acquit an accused,” the statement says.

That section provides an exemption “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.”

Richard Moon, a professor emeritus of law at the University of Windsor specializing in freedom of expression and freedom of religion, said in an earlier interview few hate speech prosecutions are brought forward in the first place.

He said there is widespread lack of understanding about what hate speech provisions in Canadian law actually do. To breach the Criminal Code provisions, speech has to be extreme in character, such as describing the members of a group as subhuman, animalistic or as inherently violent in character.

Even if religious believers hold views that are discriminatory, they “in almost all cases would not be viewed as sufficiently extreme to count as hate speech,” Moon said.

The Conservatives have painted the bill as an attack on freedom of religion. In a fundraising email, Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman stated the bill would allow people to be charged with hate crimes if they quote sections of the Bible or Torah, describe themselves as a Zionist, or express their deeply-held religious beliefs.

The Bloc said in a statement it is pleased the amendment passed, but it’s too soon to declare victory given Conservative efforts to slow down the bill’s passage.

Conservative MP Andrew Lawton described the bill as as toxic and divisive Wednesday.

“Ideally you do your study before you put something like this forward. The fact that the minister is only now talking about studying is exactly the concern that Conservatives raised on C-9, which was that this was rammed through so quickly,” he said.

“We never studied this amendment and now we’re hearing from every religious community in the country, effectively, that they will be targeted by this.”

Bill C-9 is still in the clause-by-clause process where amendments can be made, after the House of Commons justice committee suspended an eight-hour meeting late Tuesday night.

The Liberals introduced the bill earlier this year following months of concerns about rising tensions in Canadian communities over public protests — many of them prompted by hostilities in the Middle East since Oct. 7, 2023.

Several Canadian municipalities have taken steps recently to establish “bubble zones” that restrict protest activity near such places as religious institutions, schools and child care centres.

The bill made good on a promise Prime Minister Mark Carney made during the spring election. In a speech Monday, Carney called the legislation “essential.”

“Of course it’s a legislation of general application, protecting the rights of all Canadians to go to school, go to a place of worship, go to a community centre, without fear of intimidation,” Carney said.

“But let’s be absolutely clear, this is born out of the experience of Jewish Canadians.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2025.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press