Madam Speaker, I must admit that I am having a very hard time understanding the Conservatives' position on this issue. The Conservative Party is known as the party of law and order, but they are completely off track when it comes to the religious exemption in the Criminal Code.
Last year, when we proposed repealing the religious exemption, a Conservative member came to tell me that his party was opposed to the idea. He said that his pastor wanted to be able to speak out against homosexuality because he objects to it based on his interpretation of the Bible. I told him that his pastor is welcome do so if that is how he interprets the Bible. However, I want to ask my colleague this. If the pastor who objects to homosexuality based on his reading of the Bible called on members of his congregation to cut the throats of homosexuals because they are gay and because that is how he interprets the Bible, would my colleague consider that a good idea?
All this religious exemption does is protect incitement to hatred and violence under the guise of religion. That is all it does. This is in no way an attack on freedom of expression. I would like to know whether my colleague would agree with statements like that being supported under this exemption to the Criminal Code.