On Parliament Hill

In June, the Liberal Government introduced a seemingly innocuous bill in the House of Commons, Bill C-51. In some ways, Bill C-51 is a ‘housekeeping’ bill – a way to clean up legislation that has long been obsolete, redundant, or perhaps has been declared unconstitutional by the courts. On the surface, this is an accurate assessment and the bill should easily receive support in Parliament. But the Liberals snuck one particular clause into Bill C-51 which I and my fellow Conservatives have found disturbing.

Clause 14 of the bill proposes to remove section 176 of the Criminal Code – a section which provides protections for clergy and parishioners partaking in a religious service. If passed without amendment, Bill C-51 would remove criminal offences for interfering with clergy and disturbing religious worship meetings. This should be alarming whether you choose to profess religious faith or not.

I wrote regarding my concerns about this legislation in this space in July and many of you have written my office expressing similar concerns. Since then, the Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, who is the sponsor of this bill, has spoken publicly about the proposed changes. I was encouraged to hear her say that she received “a number of letters from Canadians” who expressed concern about the removal of section 176. Unfortunately, she maintained that the section is unnecessary and indicated that she will be moving forward with her proposal. When Conservative Justice Shadow Minister, Rob Nicholson, challenged her on that point, she said: “Section 176 is difficult to prove. The various elements contained therein are limited to clergymen or ministers in the Christian faith, and it’s not inclusive of other religious leaders.”

Section 176 may be difficult to prove, however I find the Minister’s claim that this section only offers protections to individuals in the Christian faith particularly misleading. There’s no reason a court couldn’t use this section to protect people of ALL faiths. But even if she were correct, why choose to eliminate the section entirely instead of rewriting it to be both easier to prove AND more inclusive?

Religious freedom is one of Canada’s fundamental freedoms and the federal government should do all it can to uphold and protect it. By repealing this section, the Liberal Government will be removing the only provision in the Criminal Code that directly protects the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion, whatever that religion may be. At a time when we’re hearing more and more about attacks on religious communities across Canada, this proposal is a step in the wrong direction.

I encourage readers with concerns to contact the Minister of Justice at mcu@justice.gc.ca to let her know you support maintaining section 176. Additionally, visit www.keep176.ca to add your name to a petition calling on the Liberal Government to stop its efforts to repeal section 176. Canadians’ religious freedoms are worth protecting.