Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to speak to Mr. Lawton's amendment.
I want to begin by saying I come to this committee this evening, and I think most come to this committee this evening, with a shared goal of combatting hate acts and acts that propagate or normalize hatred. That is a laudable goal. I think that goal is shared by all parliamentarians regardless of political stripe. Unfortunately, the amendment that was passed to Bill C-9, the Bloc and Liberal amendment that Mr. Lawton's amendment rightly seeks to undo, doesn't do that. That's why we need Mr. Lawton's amendment: to bring us back to safety.
I came to Parliament for many reasons: of course to represent my constituents and residents in the riding of York—Durham, but also to defend the liberty of Canadians, of all Canadians, across the country. I'm glad that I did, because I have seen time and time again a pattern of anti-religious and anti-Christian bigotry from this government. They may call themselves new, but they are just like the old anti-Christian bigoted government.
Whether it was a values test to receive summer jobs grants, this amendment to remove an integral part of our hate speech and anti-hate framework or seeking to remove the charitable status of religious organizations, time and again, when given the opportunity, the Liberal government chooses anti-Christian and anti-religious bigotry. I'm glad I'm here to defend the liberty of all Canadians to express their faith and their sincerely held religious beliefs. That's exactly why the protection of the defence in section 319 of the code is needed: to protect and defend Canadians from the types of attacks we have seen from the Liberal government.
It has been described as a defence, and it certainly is listed as that in the code, but I think there's another way to look at this provision. It's an integral part of our entire anti-hate framework. It's not just a defence, because the idea that we circumscribe the fundamental freedom of expression.... I'll remind members that in the charter, it's listed as a fundamental freedom, and we should give effect to that and we don't. To curtail freedoms requires a very careful balance, and the inclusion of this defence is an integral part of that.
The inclusion of it was a powerful signal by Parliament to Canadians and to the courts that the expression of sincerely held religious beliefs, including those based on a religious text, should not be subject to criminal sanction. It is equally a powerful signal when Parliament decides, or as the Liberals and the Bloc members have decided, to remove that protection. That sends a signal to Canadians and to the courts that this protection is no longer afforded to people who express those beliefs.
When Parliament acts through legislation, courts are required to give that effect. That's a basic premise of understanding and interpreting our law. For the Liberals to suggest this doesn't mean anything and freedom of religion is already protected, as the minister did in his letter before this committee sat tonight, is fanciful, wrong, ignorant. Frankly, it's unfortunate that the Minister of Justice would hold such a view.
There have been accusations by the Liberal members of hate against Conservatives. I see it all the time in the House. Now we see the Liberals and the Bloc removing protections from those who express religious beliefs. If accusations of hate can now be prosecuted, I wonder if we are coming vanishingly close to the idea of prosecution for a difference in political belief and religious belief by one party against another.
My Conservative colleagues and I will defend Canadians' freedom to debate, to challenge and to criticize without fear of sanction or censure by Liberal or Bloc members or by anyone else in Canada, and defend their freedom to express their sincerely held religious beliefs, including their sincerely held religious beliefs derived from a religious text. For as long as I have to sit here, Mr. Chair, for as many nights and as many hours as you wish, to hold up your own agenda with this bill, I will be right here defending Canadians' liberties.
Thank you.