Bill C-9

It remains to be seen if the Liberal Party will ultimately be compelled to scrap the Combatting Hate Act down the road, but it is clear that Bill C-9’s legislative momentum in the House of Commons has been significantly disrupted.

Groups that opposed Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act and its threat to criminalize religious speech, are celebrating after the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights voted Jan. 26 to delay further consideration until after tackling Bill C-14, the Bail Reform and Sentencing Act.

Parliamentarians return to the House of Commons from their winter recess on Jan. 26, which will trigger renewed debate over Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act.

A charged justice and human rights committee debate over Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, will persist into 2026 as the Liberal Chair, James Maloney, suspended sittings for the rest of the year.

Liberal MPs on the justice and human rights committee voted Tuesday evening to approve a controversial Bloc Québécois amendment to Bill C-9 that removes the religious speech defence from Canada’s hate speech law.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to retract the Liberal Party’s reported agreement with the Bloc Québécois to remove religious-belief exemptions from Canada’s hate speech laws.

The Department of Justice has affirmed that Catholic and Christian houses of worship will fall under the religious building protections of The Combatting Hate Act, Bill C-9, if it becomes law.

“Rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and transphobia have left too many people feeling unsafe in their own communities.”