Mr. Speaker, I extend the same appreciation to my colleague, whom I often work with and very much enjoy working with.
The member asked about two things. First, I have called for the repeal of the religious-based defence since early 2024, when CIJA called for it, and I agreed with them, following what happened with Charkaoui in Montreal. I have supported removing that for two years. It has never successfully been used in Canadian history. The fear is that it deters prosecutors from pursuing a case against somebody who clearly and wilfully promotes hate in the street.
Second, as the hon. member knows, hateful speech is not hate speech. There are a lot of things in this country that are hateful but do not rise to the level of prosecuting them under the Criminal Code for the wilful promotion of hatred, which rises to the level of detestation and vilification.
While I may disagree with what my hon. colleague said, he never said that somehow, people would be prosecuted as a result of doing what he said they—