Bill C-9 Explained - Speaking the Truth in love

Bill C-9

Bill C-9: When the State Wants to Define Faith

Understand the Combatting Hate Act — and why it matters to our congregation and Christian Churches

Read more: "A Christian Response to MP Marc Miller’s Comments"

Section OneWhat Is Bill C-9?

Bill C-9 — officially the Combatting Hate Act — is a federal proposal to amend Canada's Criminal Code regarding hate speech and hate crimes. The original intention of the Bill is to be protective, as some of its goals are to combat religious and ethnical violence, as well as the intimidation of worshippers at places of worship.

While these are legitimate goals that we would certainly support, we want to dig deeper and show what is buried within the bill's language, including late-stage political amendment. The provisions of this Bill then become a direct and serious threat to religious expression in Canada.

Section TwoFour Concerns for the Freedom of Christian Teaching

🛡 Removal of the Religious Exemption

Section 319(3)(b) of the Criminal Code protects good-faith expressions based on religious texts. Bill C-9, with the Bloc Québécois amendment, would eliminate this protection. Reading Scripture in public could become legally risky if a listener claims he or she felt that hatred was promoted, regardless of the speaker’s intent, even when the truth is spoken in love.

📖 Vague Definition of "Hatred"

Current law requires speech to be “intense and extreme.” Bill C-9 lowers this to any expression “involving detestation or vilification.” This wider, generic definition can be misused to frame even ordinary theological teaching which was never intended or understood as hate.

⚖ Removed Prosecutorial Safeguards

Currently, the federal Attorney General must approve hate propaganda charges — a safeguard against politically motivated prosecution. Bill C-9 removes this requirement, which may open the door to charges by local authorities without central oversight or accountability, and independent review.

👤 Listener-Determined Guilt

The proposed new framework understands that guilt may hinge on whether a listener feels intimidated — not on the speaker’s objective intent. This shifts the law from an objective to a subjective standard, where the subjective feeling of an observer determines the legality of an objective sermon. A congregation or its pastor could face legal consequences not for what they said, but for how someone chose to receive it. For example, how long will it be until, when a Christian simply says, “You are a sinner; we are all sinners”, someone would feel offended by it?

Section ThreeWhat Could This Mean for Our Church?

Teaching biblical values

Legal scholars have warned that expressing genuine biblical teaching about Scriptural topics which are not accepted by other religious and cultural expressions would no longer be guaranteed protection under Bill C-9.

International warning signs

In Finland, a grandmother and former government minister was criminally charged for quoting the New Testament and criticizing her church's participation in Pride events. In Spain, a bishop faced prosecution for remarks on sexuality. This could be where Canada would be moving toward.

Section FourA Balanced Perspective

We do not oppose the law’s intent to protect places of worship from violence and harassment and other provisions regarding discrimination of religion and ethnicity. Our concern is with how the law is written — and what it removes. Solid Christian churches have not used freedom of speech to promote hatred or violence against Canadians. The reason it is enshrined in our laws is to protect clear, objective, and good-faith theological expression.

Removing it solves a problem that does not exist, while creating a new, dangerous one.

Section FiveWhat You Can Do

1. Pray — and stay informed Ask for wisdom for our lawmakers, protection for religious freedom, and courage for the our churches to remain faithful in sharing God's Law and Gospel.
2. Contact your MP directly Write, call, or email your Member of Parliament. Express your concern about the removal of Section 319(3)(b) and ask them to restore the religious exemption. Find your MP at ourcommons.ca.
3. Know your rights — and document your speech Consult with a lawyer familiar with religious liberty law. Keep records of your sermons, teachings, and public statements. Freedom of religion remains protected under Section 2 of the Charter — but that protection may need to be defended in court.

A Pastoral Word

The Bible is the most banned book in history. While it could be pointed out that Bill C-9 doesn't ban the Bible, what we can see is that It is not being banned only for now. However, the Christian faith does not derive its legitimacy from the state, nor does it require the state's permission to speak. The church has always been called to be faithful — and our task is to remain steadfast in His Word.

We are guided by the principles of God’s Word, in Law and Gospel. Preaching God’s Law and Gospel is an act of love, never of hatred, and this is what, as a Christian Church, we aim to do. We do not expect everyone to agree with us. Nevertheless, we expect that our biblical teaching may be freely taught.

We also affirm that one of our core values is belonging, and we reflect this by welcoming people into our community regardless of background or current situation. We recognize that acceptance and agreement are not the same thing — we seek to live in a community that is accepting of all, even though we will have disagreements on various issues, working on what binds us together.

Our task is not to be alarmist nor fearmongering, but to be alert. Our desire is to serve our nation and its people in Jesus.

And we will do so in faithfulness and Christian love — for our neighbours; for those with whom we disagree; and for a nation that still, under its Charter, promises freedom of conscience and religion to every person.

"We must obey God rather than men."

Acts 5:29