Religious and civil liberties groups in Canada are very concerned about bill C-9, which aims to lower the threshold for “hatred.” Although this sounds noble, it raises very serious concerns related to freedom of expression and religion and could go so far as labelling parts of the Bible as hate speech. Below is an explanation of the concerns from the Canadian Constitution Foundation along with an email petition you can fill out and send directly to your MP:

Canadians need to know that Bill C-9:

• Lowers the threshold for “hatred.” C-9 rewrites the legal definition so that more speech could be criminalized, including speech considered merely offensive.
• Removes key safeguards. The Attorney General would no longer need to approve hate speech prosecutions, opening the door to political or ideological targeting.
• Creates a new standalone hate offence. Even minor regulatory breaches could be turned into serious crimes if labelled “motivated by hatred.”
• Criminalizes the display of certain symbols. Outlawing specific images will not end hate, but drive it underground and make it harder to confront.
• Threatens religious discourse. Removing defences for good-faith religious expression risks criminalizing honest discussion based on deeply held beliefs.