Put an End to Religious Hate Speech!
The Criminal Code of Canada authorizes hate speech if it is motivated by religious belief.
Put an end to this aberration which allows wrongdoing under the pretext of being “open-minded”!
Do not hesitate to contact your federal Member of Parliament (MP) to let them know that you support Bill C-367, recently tabled in the House of Commons by the Bloc Québécois. Bill C-367 would repeal paragraphs 319(3)b and 319(3.1)b of the Criminal Code which authorize hate speech if it is “based on a belief in a religious text” or “an opinion on a religious subject.”
Contact your federal MP in order to put an end to this explosive religious privilege that our society categorically does not need! Write to them either by post or by email. The coordinates of all MPs are available on the House of Commons website.
Read our press release about C-367…
REMINDER: International Solidarity with Religion-State Separation
Would your organization like to endorse this declaration? We are looking for associations, internationally, who would be interested in signing.
We, the undersigned, are secularists from various countries. The secularism which we advocate must include the basic principle of separation between religion and State. […]
In particular, we maintain that the secular State must be empowered to ban its employees—civil servants—from wearing religious symbols while on the job. The State must also apply a similar ban to public school teachers and other school personnel, including child-care centre personnel. State employees must adopt an attitude of restraint, refraining from expression of partisan religious beliefs, just as they must refrain from expressing any personal political or philosophical convictions, while acting as agents of the State or teachers of children, in order to protect the freedom of conscience of users of civil services, pupils in public schools and children in child-care centres. To behave otherwise is unprofessional. […]
Read the full declaration…
7th Anniversary of Quebec City Mosque Shooting
Since this atrocious killing, on 29th January 2017, unscrupulous ideologues have exploited it to fight against secularism. Here are some excerpts from an open letter entitled “No, We Are Not Guilty,” written in 2020 on the occasion of the 3rd anniversary.
“[…] But you and other opponents of Bill 21 seem to want to put the blame for this massacre on the shoulders of Quebeckers in general. Do you also hold all Muslims—including even those who dare to renounce those verses of the quran which call for violence against non-Muslims—responsible for all terrorist attacks perpetrated by Islamists who justify their actions by these very verses?”
“[…] Following the publication of Bill 21, as well as during the period in which the Charter of Secularism proposed by the PQ government of 2013-2014 was being debated, there was indeed an onslaught of hatred, but not against Muslims. Rather, it was Quebeckers and secularists who were the targets of that wave of hate propaganda, a wave which has not abated since. […]”
Read the full text…
