On February 5th, 2024, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois in Lac-Saint-Jean, introduced Private Member’s Bill C-373. The goal is to remove religious exemptions for the hate crime of antisemitism.
If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s identical to Bill C-367, which was introduced by Yves-François Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Québécois on November 28th, 2023.
Both Bills C-367 and C-373 would repeal Sections 319(3)(b) and 319(3.1)(b) of the Criminal Code. These would provide defences in Court if the expression were based on religious beliefs. Interestingly, neither Bill lists what faith(s) this would apply to, although Christianity is an obvious suspect.
Defences
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(3) No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (2)
(a) if he establishes that the statements communicated were true;
(b) if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text;
(c) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds he believed them to be true; or
(d) if, in good faith, he intended to point out, for the purpose of removal, matters producing or tending to produce feelings of hatred toward an identifiable group in Canada.
Defences — subsection (2.1)
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(3.1) No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (2.1)
(a) if they establish that the statements communicated were true;
(b) if, in good faith, they expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text;
(c) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds they believed them to be true; or
(d) if, in good faith, they intended to point out, for the purpose of removal, matters producing or tending to produce feelings of antisemitism toward Jews.
Some clarity would be nice. These Bills (C-367 and C-373) didn’t just happen. There are obviously some written texts which are apparently offensive.
Brunel-Duceppe is also involved in foreign affairs. He and Blanchet are both part of CAIL, the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.
- (CAAF) Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association
- (CACN Canada-China Legislative Association
- (CADE) Canada-Germany Interparliamentary Group
- (CAEU) Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association
- (CAFR) Canada-France Inter-Parliamentary Association
- (CAIE) Canada-Ireland Interparliamentary Group
- (CAIL) Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group
- (CAIT) Canada-Italy Interparliamentary Group
- (CAJP) Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group
- (CANA) Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association
- (CAPF) Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie
- (CCOM)Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
- (CEUS) Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group
- (CPAM) Canadian Section of ParlAmericas
- (RUUK) Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association
- (SECOC) anadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly
- (UIPU) Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Here’s where the story take a turn, as it usually does. Brunelle-Duceppe didn’t come up with this on his own. It looks as if he has been meeting with CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Brunelle-Duceppe appears to have been contacted by the Israeli Lobby about this. There’s a meeting which took place on January 19th, 2024. Just 2 weeks later, he’s introducing this Bill. That seems unlikely to be a coincidence.
CIJA is very involved in Canadian politics, and has regularly lobbied politicians for decades. A large part of their agenda focuses on amending the Criminal Code and Human Rights Codes to combat what they call hate speech and antisemitism.
Bills C-367 and C-373 are hardly the only ones introduced in recent times to limit Canadians’ expression and speech. Here are some others.
Bill C-63 (the Online Harms Act) was recently introduced. This would impose strict criminal penalties for people suspected — not even charged or convicted — of causing harms. Like so many pieces of legislation, it’s both vague, and has real consequences.
Bill C-229 sought to ban “symbols of hate”, but without defining what the criteria would be. It can be difficult to distinguish between hate, history, and simple expression.
Bill C-250 would have put Holocaust deniers in prison for up to 2 years. This came from a “Conservative” MP named Kevin Waugh. The Bill is moot at this point, since the equivalent provisions were slipped into Bill C-19, a budget that passed.
Bill C-261 would create “red flag laws” for hate speech, but without defining what it is. Without a person even being charged or convicted, a Judge could order them to be subjected to the kinds of restrictions that felons on probation or parole would face. This is virtually identical to Bill C-36, which was introduced, but didn’t pass in the previous session.
Who can forget Iqra Khalid’s M-103 (Islamophobia Motion), or Bills C-6 and later C-4 (to criminalize anything that would be considered conversion therapy?
British Columbia Bill 23 gets an honourable mention. This would establish a Provincial Committee to establish and advance an “anti-racism” agenda, and embed it in everything. Whites are specifically excluded from being on having any leadership role.
Not only do these Bills erode freedom, and particularly freedom of speech, the details are always worked out behind closed doors. It’s typically an NGO, often a foreign one, who has elected officials try to implement them. This shouldn’t be allowed, regardless of who’s behind it.
But you won’t hear either the mainstream or alternative media talk about this.
One other point of interest is this: Blanchet’s Bill C-367 was introduced at the end of November, 2023. Brunelle-Duceppe’s Bill C-373 was in early February, 2024. This was just a few months later. Why was this introduced twice?
(1) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/overview
(2) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-373
(3) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/alexis-brunelle-duceppe(104786)
(4) https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-373/first-reading
(5) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=592585
Private Member Bills In Current Session:
(A) Bill C-206: Decriminalizing Self Maiming To Avoid Military Service
(B) Bill C-207: Creating The “Right” To Affordable Housing
(C) Bill C-219: Creating Environmental Bill Of Rights
(D) Bill C-226: Creating A Strategy For Environmental Racism/Justice
(E) Bill C-229: Banning Symbols Of Hate, Without Defining Them
(F) Bill C-235: Building Of A Green Economy In The Prairies
(G) Bill C-245: Entrenching Climate Change Into Canada Infrastructure Bank
(H) Bill C-250: Imposing Prison Time For Holocaust Denial
(I) Bill C-261: Red Flag Laws For “Hate Speech”
(J) Bill C-293: Domestic Implementation Of Int’l Pandemic Treaty
(K) Bill C-312: Development Of National Renewable Energy Strategy
(L) Bill C-315: Amending CPPIB Act Over “Human, Labour, Environmental Rights”
(M) Bill C-367: Removing Religious Exemptions Protecting Against Antisemitism
(N) Bill S-215: Protecting Financial Stability Of Post-Secondary Institutions
(O) Bill S-243: Climate Related Finance Act, Banking Acts
(P) Bill S-248: Removing Final Consent For Euthanasia
(Q) Bill S-257: Protecting Political Belief Or Activity As Human Rights
