Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses who are with us today. My first question is for Mr. Ross.
Mr. Ross, I understand that you represent the Christian Legal Fellowship. I want to talk to you about a provision of the Criminal Code, namely section 319.
Subsection 319(1) prohibits inciting hatred against any identifiable group and subsection 319(2) prohibits promoting hatred against any identifiable group. However, there are exceptions to these provisions in the Criminal Code. One of the exceptions specifies that no person shall be convicted of an offence under the subsections in question, including:
(b) 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…
Mr. Ross, I'd like you to talk to us about this exception. In your opinion, does a religious defence like this belong in the Criminal Code? If not, should we take the opportunity afforded by Bill C‑9, which seeks to curb hatred, to remove these two exceptions from the Criminal Code?