‘Dangerous’ anti-Christian Bill C-9 inches closer to becoming law in Canada

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — A new Liberal bill that could open the door to the criminalization of religious expression and belief when quoting certain parts of the Bible has passed the report stage and will soon head to Canada’s Senate.

On Monday, Bill C-9, known as the “Combatting Hate Act,” sailed through the report stage in the House of Commons. All that is stopping it now from heading to the Senate, which mostly rubber stamps laws into place, is the law passing third reading, which will take place soon.

At a press conference on Monday, Conservative MP Andrew Lawton warned that Bill C-9, as it reads, “will erode long-standing religious protections for speech, and religious freedom in general.”

“This is not a government that has a track record of upholding constitutional rights, which is why faith communities are raising very real concerns,” said Lawton.

“We are listening to those, and giving the Liberals one final opportunity this week to do the right thing.”

Conservative MPs have also warned that Bill C-9 is a direct “attack” on religious freedom and would allow the “prosecution” of those who simply read certain passages of Scripture in “good faith.” They have been battling the bill in committee.

Bill C-9 is a Liberal Party censorship bill that has attracted a massive backlash from religious Canadians of many faiths. Once it becomes law, certain protections for sincerely held religious beliefs, particularly regarding LGBT issues, could be removed.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, earlier this month, the Liberals shut down all debate on the bill in the committee stage.

Conservative MPs have been demanding that a recently passed amendment to the bill, which removes a religious exemption, be rescinded immediately.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Bill C-9 has been blasted by constitutional experts as allowing empowered police and the government to go after those it deems to have violated a person’s “feelings” in a “hateful” way. The bill was introduced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser last year.

The removal of the religious exemption prompted condemnation from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, who issued an open letter criticizing the proposed amendment and calling for its repeal.

Recently, the Democracy Fund (TDF) alerted Canadians that Bill C-9 will expand the “legal definition of hatred and removes key free expression safeguards in the Criminal Code.”

Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) campaigns manager David Cooke has previously told LifeSiteNews that Bill C-9 would result in the “prosecution of Canadian Christians” when quoting the Bible on issues of life and family.

The third reading on Bill C-9 could come as early as sometime this week.