Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, advanced out of the Senate on June 4 by a 45-13 vote, to be sent back to the House of Commons with no movement on providing protection for religious speech.

The only amendment made in the Senate was adding hangman’s noose to the list of forbidden terror symbols. The core of the bill criminalizes intimidation and obstruction outside of establishments used by faith-based groups and banning the deliberate flaunting of certain terrorism or hate symbols in public. A much-talked about committee-approved amendment to make "residential school denialism" an indictable offence was voted down.

The debate hours before the vote mirrored the previous six months: it centred on the removal of the sincere religious text defence in Canada's hate speech laws. The Bloc Quebecois and Liberals teamed up in the House of Commons to repeal Section 319 (3)(b) of the Criminal Code.

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Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto warned Senators in a letter that "the removal of the defence of religious speech will not ensure that religious speech is dutifully protected from eventual hate charges.”  He urged that "an unequivocal clarification be added to the bill making it abundantly and unmistakably clear that the reading of religious texts, as well as teaching and preaching, are not in any way considered the intentional promotion of hatred of any kind."

No such clarification was added, but Conservative Senator Yonah Martin made an attempt. She implored her colleagues across the whole Senate to refine the language in a key for-greater-certainty clause. This passage was added to the legislation by the Liberals to apparently assuage concerns articulated by a broad coalition of entities about the bill’s potential chilling effects on, and weaponization against, religious expression and freedom. These groups responded with dissatisfaction with the clause as written.

In part, the clause reads that nothing in the willful promotion of hatred or willful promotion of anti-Semitism sections of the Criminal Code can be construed as “prohibiting a person from communicating a statement on a matter of public interest.” This includes “an educational, religious, political or scientific statement made in the course of a discussion, publication or debate, if they do not wilfully promote hatred against an identifiable group by communicating the statement.”

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Phil Horgan, the president and general counsel of the Catholic Civil Rights League, had previously told The Catholic Register that the clause “may leave open the possibility of a charge if the Crown is of the view that a discussion of certain religious texts is not in the public interest, and in the absence of the good faith religious defence, a pastor or faith leader would be at the peril of a charge.”

Martin’s sub-amendment to the clause would have added the phrase “in good faith” in between “communicating a statement” and “on a matter of public interest.”

Government Representative in the Senate Pierre Moreau called for multiple suspensions to the sitting to enable time for consultation with the Department of Justice about Martin’s proposal.

Moreau turned down the modification. He said there was “specific formulation” to the phrasing of the bill and suggested Martin’s “in good faith” phrase could, according to the justice department, “reintroduce the idea that hate speech could be given in good faith, or that vilification or detestation could be done in good faith.”

Campaign Life Coalition, the political arm of the pro-life movement, especially mobilized against Bill C-9 with petition drives and national rallies outside the constituency offices of more than 48 Liberal MPs. The organization’s national president lamented this “dark day for religious freedom and free speech in Canada.”

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“Under the guise of combating hate, Bill C-9 opens the door to the criminalization of peaceful religious and pro-life expression in Canada,” said Jeff Gunnarson. “It is now more important than ever for Canadians to continue speaking Biblical truths about marriage and family in the public square — truths that are the bedrock of every healthy nation.”

The timeline for final passage of C-9 will be made clear in the coming days. June 19 is the last sitting date before summer recess.