Canadian bill would not criminalize all religious expression

"There is a new bill being proposed that any Christians in Canada that quote the Bible could end up in prison," says the speaker in a March 8, 2024 TikTok with more than 610,000 views.

Different versions of the clip spread across Facebook, X, TikTok and the video-sharing platform Rumble.

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Screenshot of an X post taken March 11, 2024

Other posts on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok have also claimed Canada is weighing a bill that would "essentially ban the idea of Christianity."

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Screenshot of an X post taken March 11, 2024

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Screenshot of an Instagram post taken March 11, 2024

Many posts link to articles claiming Bill C-367 (archived here) would "silence believers who oppose the woke ideology."

Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the federal Bloc Québécois party (archived here), tabled the bill in Canada's Parliament on November 28, 2023.

Bloc Québécois spokeswoman Joanie Riopel told AFP the legislation would remove religious exemptions for the crimes of public incitement of hate and willful promotion of hatred and anti-Semitism.

"The bill provides for the removal of paragraphs ... of the Canadian Criminal Code, which allow anyone to hide under the cloak of religion in the context of public incitement to hatred," Riopel said in a March 8, 2024 email.

She said Blanchet introduced the bill after an imam called on God to "exterminate" the "enemies of the people of Gaza" while leading a prayer at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Montreal in October 2023. Local media reported the speech sparked concerns about violence.

Richard Moon, a law professor at the University of Windsor (archived here), said the proposed amendments would have minimal effect on religious expression since they would only apply to hate speech.

"It's not going to shut down general Christian speech," he said March 8.

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of speech within "reasonable limits" that can be "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society" (archived here).

AFP has previously fact-checked misinformation about private member bills such as C-367, which face an uphill battle in Parliament since the cabinet does not introduce them.

What the Criminal Code says

Canada's Criminal Code defines "public incitement of hatred" as statements against certain groups that are "likely to lead to a breach of the peace" (archived here and here). Incitement, "wilful promotion of hatred" and "wilful promotion of antisemitism" are indictable offences.

Moon said Canadian courts have found the hate speech section of the Criminal Code only applies to extreme expressions that vilify or dehumanize certain groups.

Defendants can argue their statements were made in good faith to reflect a religious opinion or text, but he said that approach is rarely successful.

An Ontario court in 2001 dismissed such an appeal from a man convicted for promoting hatred after he distributed pamphlets and left phone messages claiming all Muslims were capable of terrorism and cruelty (archived here). The judgment said that "although the pamphlets and recorded message did contain statements of religious belief, they went above and beyond this."

Some of the posts circulating online allude to Christians facing possible legal consequences for speaking in opposition to the LGBTQ community if Bill C-367 passes.

But Moon said someone who calls LGBTQ lifestyles "sinful" would not meet the legal threshold for incitement or promotion of hatred -- unless they advocate for the extermination of certain groups or mischaracterize them in a way that could lead to ostracization.

"We're talking about really extreme speech," Moon said.

LGBTQ Canadians have told local media outlets they do not feel adequately protected from hatred under the current Criminal Code.

Legislating speech

Bill C-367 is not the only proposal looking to curb hate speech and anti-Semitism.

The Liberal Party has introduced Bill-C63, known as the Online Harms Bill (archived here). The legislation proposes restrictions on online communication that could expose a person or group to hatred.

With the federal justice minister's backing, the bill has a better chance of passage -- but it also sparked freedom of expression concerns after its first reading.

Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.