Bill C-9’s journey in the Canadian Senate began with the second reading debate session on April 14.

Alberta Senator Kristopher Wells delivered the sponsor’s speech on behalf of the Combatting Hate Act, which advanced out of the House of Commons on March 25.

If passed, this bill, originally tabled in September, will criminalize intimidation and obstruction outside of establishments used by faith-based groups and ban the intentional flaunting of certain terrorism or hate symbols in public. But these main tenets have been overshadowed by the controversial amendment introduced in December by the Bloc Québécois that deletes the good faith speech defence from Canada’s hate speech laws.

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A coalition of religious communities, citizens, civil liberty organizations and legal experts concerned about the removal of these safeguards from Section 319 of the Canadian Criminal Code has continued to grow over the past seven months. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), various Christian groups, over 350 Muslim organizations and Orthodox Jewish leaders have all penned statements urging the abandonment of this amendment.

Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto also spoke out about Bill C-9 when it was being considered in the Lower Chamber, and in recent weeks, he has written a letter to Canadian Senators. He urged the Senators to thoughtfully discern a pathway to addressing hate crimes in society without imperiling fundamental freedoms.

“There is a way, and I pray the Senate will endeavour to discover it, whereby legislative mechanisms are introduced to eliminate the dreadful expressions of hatred all while assuring that violation of acquired and recognized freedoms, especially of people and communities of faith, are preserved and enshrined, honoured and protected,” said Leo.

Following Wells' sponsorship speech where he touted the bill's measures to curb the rising tide of hate crimes in Canadian society, he received questions about the Combatting Hate Act from his fellow senators. 

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In a notable exchange related to the removal of the religious speech defence, Conservative Senator Yonah Martin, the deputy leader of the opposition, asked Wells if he was disturbed by the courses of action employed in the House of Commons to add this amendment to Bill C-9.

“That amendment only appeared at the committee stage in the other place without witness testimony or consultation with religious, cultural or legal experts before repealing this longstanding defence,” said Martin. “So, in terms of process, and the fact that there are now concerns they were not heard when it happened at committee, should we be concerned, and are you concerned about the message this sends to millions of Canadians of faith, and others?”

She added that “it’s quite concerning what took place in the House.”

Wells noted in his response that he, akin to his colleagues, has received many letters from citizens concerned about Bill C-9.

“I can assure Canadians that when this bill is referred to the Senate committee, there will be that robust discussion and the invitation to witnesses who are in favour of that particular amendment and against that amendment so we can hear all sides of the debate,” he said. “And as we heard from the Minister (of Justice and Attorney General Sean Fraser), if there are good-faith amendments that come forward that strengthen the bill or address shortcomings of the bill, they will be considered by the government.”

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Bill C-9 debate will continue in the Senate on April 15.

Read Cardinal Leo’s entire letter to the Canadian senators at archtoronto.org.