Why Bill C-9 puts faith and free expression at risk

By Lethbridge Herald on January 3, 2026.

Racheal Thomas,

For the Herald

Canada has long been a country where people are free to speak, worship, and disagree without fear of criminal punishment. Those freedoms are not accidental. They were deliberately protected by lawmakers who understood that a healthy democracy requires both public safety and liberty. As a Member of Parliament, I take that responsibility seriously, and that is why I am deeply concerned that Bill C-9 risks upsetting that balance in a profound and dangerous way.

For decades, both Conservative and Liberal prime ministers have affirmed freedom of religion as a defining Canadian value. Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier once declared that “Canada is free and freedom is its nationality.” Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker echoed that principle years later when he proclaimed: “I am Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way… This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”

That heritage belongs to Canadians of all faiths. For generations, people have practised their religion openly, while faith organizations and community centres have supported the spiritual, physical, and mental well-being of Canadians. Canada is globally known as a refuge for those fleeing religious persecution. Freedom of religion is not a modern invention. It is a foundational pillar of our national identity.

The government insists that Bill C-9, the so-called Combatting Hate Act, is necessary to address rising antisemitism and other hateful acts. They are right about one thing. Canada has seen a deeply troubling increase in antisemitic incidents, alongside vandalism, threats, and harassment targeting Christian communities and other faith groups. Synagogues, churches, schools, community centres, and businesses have been attacked. Families feel unsafe. Students report intimidation on campus. These harms are real and demand serious action.

But after weeks of parliamentary debate, committee testimony, and public scrutiny, it has become clear that Bill C-9 does not strengthen Canada’s response to hate. It weakens it and, in the process, puts religious freedom and free expression at risk.

But Canada already has strong hate crime laws.

The Criminal Code criminalizes threats, harassment, intimidation, mischief against religious property, and hate propaganda. Section 319 makes it an offence to advocate genocide or wilfully promote hatred. Sections 430, 264, and 423 address mischief to religious property, criminal harassment, and intimidation. The Supreme Court of Canada has deliberately set a high bar for what constitutes hatred, defining it as extreme detestation and vilification.

The failure has never been a lack of legal authority. It has been enforcement and political will.

Instead of ensuring existing laws are applied consistently, Bill C-9 removes critical safeguards. It eliminates the long-standing requirement for Attorney General consent before hate speech prosecutions, an important check against frivolous or politically motivated cases. It also lowers the threshold for what qualifies as hatred, creating uncertainty about where lawful expression ends and criminal liability begins.

Most alarming is what followed.

To secure Bill C-9’s passage, the Liberals struck a deal with the Bloc Québécois, agreeing to remove the good faith religious text defence in section 319(3)(b) of the Criminal Code. This narrow but vital protection has existed for decades and ensures Canadians cannot be prosecuted for sincerely expressing religious beliefs or discussing religious texts in good faith.

Its removal has real consequences.

Without this safeguard, passages from the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, and other sacred texts could become grounds for criminal complaints. Clergy could face legal jeopardy for sermons. Parents and educators could hesitate before teaching foundational doctrine. Faith communities would be left guessing whether long held beliefs might now trigger prosecution.

This concern is not hypothetical. Liberal MPs have publicly stated that certain biblical passages should not be protected under the law. That alone should give Canadians pause.

Supporters of Bill C-9 often point to a single case, the failure to charge an imam who publicly called for violence in 2023, as justification for rewriting the Criminal Code. But that case proves the opposite. Existing laws already prohibit calls for violence and genocide. The failure was not the law. It was the refusal to enforce it.

Bill C-9 will not prevent synagogues from being firebombed or homes from being vandalized. Those acts are already crimes. What it will do is chill lawful expression, restrict legitimate religious activity, and invite abuse of the justice system through politically motivated complaints.

Faith leaders across Canada see this clearly. Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish organizations, groups that rarely speak with one voice, have all raised serious concerns. Their message is simple: protecting Canadians from hate must never come at the cost of criminalizing sincere belief.

Conservatives will continue to oppose this reckless and unprecedented attack on fundamental freedoms. Bill C-9 does not make Canadians safer. It undermines faith communities, weakens due process, and erodes the freedoms that define our country.

Canadians deserve a government that enforces the law fairly and defends liberty, not one that trades away constitutional safeguards to pass flawed legislation. If you share these concerns, I encourage you to contact the Minister of Justice, Sean Fraser, at mcu@justice.gc.ca.

Religious freedom in Canada depends on it.