Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice continues to misrepresent what has happened. The Liberal government was not elected with a mandate to remove long-standing protections for religious speech. When facing the millions of Canadians affected by this and their concerns, the minister said he would consult and listen to those over the winter break. When coming back, the only response he has had is to say not to worry, the bill does not say what it says.
Even now, the minister says charter rights will protect Canadians, while the government has not said whether it will accept the Federal Court of Appeal finding that it violated the charter rights of Canadians with the invocation of the Emergencies Act. Canadians have every reason to be concerned with a government that does not have a record of upholding these fundamental freedoms.
If Canadians truly have nothing to fear, will the Minister of Justice stand up right now and denounce the words of his cabinet colleague, the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, who said it should be illegal to quote verses of the Bible that he says are inherently hateful? Will he denounce those comments right now?