In the News:
End Religious Hate Speech!

Le Bloc québécois redépose son « projet de loi Charkaoui » (The Bloc québécois re-tables its “Charkaoui Bill”), Boris Proulx, Le Devoir, 2024-02-05.

The Bloc Québécois has tabled a second bill inspired by the incident last fall when Montreal imam Adil Charkaoui called publicly for god to “take care” of the Israelis. Leader Yves-François Blanchet calls on all federal Members of Parliament (MP) to speak out against the religious exception included in the hate speech part of the Criminal Code. This exception contributes to a climate of tension and violence in Quebec and Canada, importing a foreign conflict. Blanchet himself tabled a bill (C-367) on this issue in November, which was then completely ignored. So Bloc MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean) has just tabled a similar text (C-373), hoping to have it studied by the House of Commons by this summer.

L’exception religieuse du Code criminel canadien (The Religious Exception in the Criminal Code of Canada), Marie-Claude Girard, Le Devoir, 2024-02-06.

English Translation: The religious exception of the Canadian Criminal Code, Actual News Magazine, 2024-02-06.

The association of Atheist Freethinkers, at the origin of the 2017-2018 petition, nevertheless argued that:

1. The texts of several of the world’s major religions contain comments that denigrate and advocate hatred against unbelievers, women, homosexuals or certain ethnic or racial groups, comments that sometimes call for violence, even deadly violence.
2. Religions therefore constitute an important cause of hate propaganda against several groups.
3. The freedom of religion of some must not take precedence over the fundamental rights of others and must never, under any circumstances, threaten either the physical integrity or the lives of members of groups targeted by hate speech in these religious texts.

See also:

• Atheist Freethinkers Supports Draft Legislation to Repeal the Religious Exception for Hate Propaganda
• Bill C-373
• Religious exception, paragraphs 319(3)b and 319(3.1)b, Criminal Code of Canada
• AFT Denounces the Inaction and Dishonesty of the Federal Justice Minister Regarding Religious Hate Propaganda
• Petition e-763 to the House of Commons
• The AFT Petition Against the Religious Exception in Canada’s Hate Propaganda Law is Presented to Parliament