MPs voted on Tuesday evening to halt debate on the Liberals’ anti-hate bill in a committee, ending a prolonged Conservative filibuster to protest removing a religious exemption to some hate speech laws.
The MPs voted to approve a motion tabled by Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon to end the Conservative filibuster that has held up Bill C-9 for months.
The motion will mean that the justice committee, where the anti-hate bill is being discussed, moves straight to vote on amendments and sub-amendments rather than discussing them further.
It will force MPs to remain in committee on Wednesday until they’ve finished examining the entire bill, which could lead to a late-night session.
The motion will also fast-track the bill at its subsequent stage.
After it clears the Commons justice committee, it will move to report stage and third reading before advancing to the Senate.
Liberals move to end Conservative filibuster over religious exemption to hate speech laws
For months, Conservatives have made prolonged interventions in the justice committee, railing against the removal of the religious exemption, which has long been part of the country’s Criminal Code.
Their objections focused on a Bloc Québécois amendment to the bill which passed last year with support from the Liberals in the justice committee.
The amendment removed an exemption in the Criminal Code protecting a person who quotes from a religious text from prosecution for hate speech. The Bloc has argued for years that the exemption can be used as cover for promoting homophobia, racial abuse and antisemitism.
The anti-hate bill would also make it a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, to obstruct someone from accessing a place of worship or other sites where Jews, Muslims and other identifiable groups gather, including by blocking doors, driveways and roads.
In a debate in the Commons on Tuesday ahead of the vote, Conservative Roman Baber argued that Bill C-9 was a “Trojan horse” to limit free speech, and would not help the Jewish community, of which he is a member, combat hate.
He argued that the RCMP should investigate intimidation of Jewish businesses and members of banned terrorist entities Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported to be in Canada.
Opinion: Bill C-9 puts Canadians’ Charter rights in peril
Conservative Tamara Kronis raised concerns that the definition of hate is too vague in the bill, and said many religious groups had “sounded the alarm” about restriction of religious liberty.
Conservatives said they have been inundated with expressions of concern from religious leaders who fear Bill C-9 would limit religious freedom if it becomes law.
But the Liberals say the Opposition is deliberately obstructing the progress of their anti-hate bill that would criminalize the willful promotion of hatred toward religious and ethnic groups by publicly displaying terror or hate symbols.
They tabled a sub-amendment in committee to clarify that removing the religious exemption would not affect religious expression in general. For example, it would not affect the freedom to quote passages from religious texts in a house of worship or in public where the intention is not to willfully promote hatred.
The Bloc supported the Liberals in voting for the closure motion to halt discussion in committee. NDP MPs voted with the Conservatives against the motion or abstained.
Liberal Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the leader of the House of Commons, said during the debate that a majority of MPs think it is time to let the bill progress through Parliament. The short bill has been in committee since September.
Larry Brock, the Conservative justice critic, told The Globe and Mail he had proposed that the Liberals split the bill so that the religious exemption be carved out from the rest of the bill for further discussion. But he said the government did not accept the proposal.
He said when the bill was introduced there was no indication that the religious exemption in the Criminal Code would be removed, and its implications had therefore not been properly explored with witnesses before the committee.
He said he was “very upset” by the government’s move to close down debate on the bill, which he called a “divisive moment” and a “slap in the face of democracy.” He said the inboxes of Conservative MPs have been flooded with expressions of concern from members of the public and religious congregations.