Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this House as the elected representative for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, a part of this country that is known for its significant place and time in Canadian history. Craigellachie in the middle of the Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies is the place where in 1885 the last spike was driven on the Canadian Pacific Railway, uniting this country from coast to coast to coast. I mention this because it was a time when Canadians were united across this country because of a vision of a Conservative leader and a willing private sector. It was a time of great building and of great accomplishments, not a time of division.
I want to put this question to all Canadians who are listening out there. What would be more concerning than a Liberal government promoting a bill that would remove the exemption that ensures that clergy of any faith would not be found guilty for quoting religious books like the Bible, the Torah or the Quran? What is more concerning is the Liberal government's introducing this programming motion that would limit the debate in this House and limit the ability for Canadians to have influence on how and what legislation gets passed that would continue and control their futures. The Liberals have abused their powers to limit debate, limiting word changes and limiting amendments. Even reading of amendments being voted on was not permitted at committee.
This has amounted to the Liberals' censoring debate of a censorship bill. They have used their parliamentary strong arm to shut down debate with respect to Bill C-9, shutting down our voices as members of this House representing the voices of millions of Canadians of faith who have sent letters and submitted countless petitions all against what the Liberals would do in Bill C-9 and calling on the government to reject Bill C-9.
Prior to the amendments put forward by the Bloc and supported by the Liberals, clergy were exempted from being charged with hate speech for simply quoting texts in holy books. Changes in Bill C-9, such as the removal of the religious defence for wilfully promoting hate, would make it easier for people to be prosecuted for expressing sincerely held religious and political views, and would create ambiguity in a law where clarity is needed now more than ever. As Conservatives, we believe that hate is real and must be addressed, but it has festered under the current Liberal government.
The divisions in Canada have never before reached the point where they are now, after 10 years and more of Liberal government and the divisive policies of the current government. Canada already has bans on hate symbols and for obstructing access to a house of worship, making parts of Bill C-9 redundant. In fact, Conservative members offered to split Bill C-9 into two parts to swiftly pass the uncontentious sections of the legislation, but the Liberals rejected this. They took the easy way out by teaming up with the Bloc to attack freedom of expression and religious freedom. This bill and this debate are not about whether faith leaders should be free to spread hate; no one should be allowed to do that. They are about how hate is defined and how the law is applied.
On December 9, 2025, at the justice committee, the Liberals and the Bloc voted to remove Criminal Code paragraphs 319(3)(b) and paragraph 319(3.1)(b), which say that individuals cannot be prosecuted for wilful promotion of hatred if they are expressing “in good faith....an argument or opinion on a religious subject or...based on a belief in a religious text”.
This is the troublesome part of this version of Bill C-9, which the Liberals are now pushing through with their programming motion. Calls to incite hatred or violence, whether cloaked in religion or not, are already illegal and not subject to the religious defence that Bill C-9 now removes. Religious communities, including the Jewish community, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists, hold a vast range of beliefs on religion, morality, sexuality, politics and culture. Though some may find these beliefs objectionable, old-fashioned or even hateful, a free country does not criminalize expression of sincere religious beliefs.
What is also really troubling in the bill is that the former justice committee chair said in committee on October 31 that there was “clear hatred” in some books of the Bible and Torah, singling out Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Romans.
The minister said:
Clearly, there are situations in these texts where statements are hateful. They should not be used to invoke...or be a defence.
He said that prosecutors should be able to press charges. He meant pressing charges for someone quoting sacred text.
The Supreme Court has recognized the religious defence as necessary to keep Canada's hate speech laws constitutional, because of how crucial freedom of expression and freedom of religion are.
The Liberals have tried to restrict what people can say through numerous pieces of legislation, including the online harms act, Bill C-63 in the previous Parliament, which they have committed to reintroducing in this Parliament.
We have seen, for over 10 years, that they simply cannot be trusted to draft legislation that is in the best interests of Canadian freedoms. In fact, they are still not accepting the court ruling that they actually broke the law when they invoked the Emergencies Act.
If there is one thing I have learned in my 10-plus years in the House, it is that when the Liberals say to trust them, it is time to take a closer look at what they are saying. They have repeatedly shut down debate and even gone as far as shutting down Parliament when they were caught pushing ideological agendas that were not in the best interests of Canadians.
I mentioned earlier the time when the country was united by a railway and a vision of leadership. Unfortunately, over the past 10 years, now going on 11, we are seeing a country that is divided by Liberal ideologies and a lack of hope for what the country could be.
We do see them picking up some of the best Conservative policies and platform ideas, but too often those policies and platform ideas are watered down to the point of irrelevance or blocked by existing Liberal laws. I can only caution Canadians, and especially the Liberal government, against trying to limit the freedoms of Canadians. That is what our veterans fought for, our freedoms in this country, and I urge all Canadians to do all we can to maintain the freedoms that we have here in Canada.