Violent Hatred 'In Good Faith'

"We fear that because representatives, or would-be representatives, of some groups, came to the committee and sat there, that the Liberals fear backlash against them within some communities and that because of that, they have cancelled today's meeting."

"If the Liberals had, in the matter of religious exemptions, the same courage that they have for oil and gas infrastructure, this would have been dealt with a long time ago."

"[The minister proposed that] our amendments, particularly of course the one putting an end to the religious exemption, be integrated into C-9 in order for it to be adopted with the Bloc Quebecois's support because no one else was interested in doing it and the Bloc Quebecois holds the balance of power at the justice committee."

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet 

Toronto Police attend Pro-Palestinian demonstration at Yonge and Dundas Sts. in Toronto on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. Photo by Caryma Sa’d

Unsaid, but quite well understood is the identity of those would-be representatives, the Muslim community in Canada's various representative groups, all of which are offended by a move by the minority federal government, requiring support from opposition parties to pass bills that would affect them. As in 'freedom of speech' careening into hate speech which moves beyond the civil permissible into the dark areas of threats and support for violence to the point where killing a certain segment of the population is inferred, if not outright stated.

 

The Canadian-Jewish community has been increasingly targeted by various Islamist Muslim groups within Canada in constant 'demonstrations' and mass rallies where masked, keffiyeh-clad, Palestinian-flag -waving groups gather in the public square, block highways, pose threats in front of synagogues, Jewish parochial schools, Jewish community centres, private Jewish businesses, municipal council chambers to shout the invectives of 'globalize the intifada', 'final solution', 'from the river to the sea', and 'Jews go back to Europe!'

 

There are laws in Canada that prohibit this kind of action and activities that border on and often exceed permissible public social behaviour where property is damaged, defaced, and otherwise vandalized, threats are issued and peoples' ingress and egress to schools, meetings, hospitals are impeded. Much less vehicular traffic stopped, including fire trucks and ambulances when shouting, threatening groups fill the space and become deliberately immovable, or prostate themselves in unison in displays of public prayer.

 

Unfortunately, those laws have not been enforced; neither municipal authorities nor the police associated with those municipalities act to stop such events, clear the streets and apprehend those whose actions stand out as abusive and threatening and criminal in nature. What is cited is the sacrosanct right of  'freedom of speech', amidst the intimidating scenarios. And the propensity of many wearing masks, holding placards damning Israel and shouting 'globalize the intifada' to become physically violent, including toward police, when arrests will take place.

 

In a speech to protesters on Oct. 28, Imam Adil Charkaoui, speaking Arabic, denounced "Zionist aggressors" and called on Allah to "kill the enemies of the people of Gaza and to spare none of them." X

 

Now, instead of using the laws prescribing acceptable social behaviour, a new anti-hate bill is being proposed, one that will remove a clause forgiving abusive activity if it is done in a spirit of 'sincere belief' in a religious context which would exonerate say, a Muslim who proclaims 'kill the Jews', because something in his sacred scripture allows that. The Canadian Council of Imams attended the last committee meeting discussing the amendment to the Criminal Code's religious defences for hate speech charges. They opposed the religious defences removal.

 

The proposed legislation seeks to make it an offence to intimidate or obstruct at places of worship. Presented by Justice Minister Sean Fraser, it proposes the criminalization of hate promotion through the display of symbols that have links to designated terror groups. The rise in police-reported antisemitic violence in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war has spurred Jewish advocacy groups to call for additional measures of protection for the Jewish-Canadian population. 

 

It was the Bloc Quebecois's proposal for the religious defences to be removed dealing with the 'wilful promotion of hate' and promotion of antisemitism, defined by the law as minimizing or denying the Holocaust, which states specifically that anyone in 'good faith' who expresses or communicates an opinion "on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text" not be convicted of hate speech. The Bloc has advocated for the religious exemptions to be removed from the Criminal Code. 

 

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in downtown Montreal in October 2023. In November, Montreal police received a complaint about speeches made during those demonstrations. (Danielle Kadjo/Radio-Canada)