Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet is calling on Parliament to close what he describes as a dangerous loophole in the Criminal Code that allows hate speech to hide behind religious teachings, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
Speaking with reporters, Blanchet said it’s time for Canada to remove any legal protections for hate-filled speech, even when it’s presented in a religious context. “If a believer of any religion whatsoever uses religion to support hate, to support radicalization of our youth, I believe this is a crime,” he said. “It has to be punished as a crime in whatever language or whatever religion.”
His comments come in response to a 2023 incident in which a Montreal imam recited a Quranic prayer asking for the death of Jews. The prayer, delivered at the Assahaba Islamic Centre, included calls to “slay them one by one” and to “destroy the Zionist aggressors.”
Blanchet emphasized that the problem isn’t religion itself but its misuse. “If somebody uses it in order to promote hate and violence, that is a crime,” he said, adding that this applies equally to Catholics, Christians, Muslims, and others. “The only way to have equality for everybody in society is for the state to be absolutely neutral. There is no other way.”
The Bloc previously introduced Bill C-367, which sought to eliminate a legal defence that allows people to avoid prosecution for hate speech by citing religious texts. The bill would have repealed sections of the Criminal Code that currently protect such speech as a matter of religious belief. The bill did not reach Second Reading.
Blanchet declined to directly answer whether reading violent passages from other religious texts, like the Bible, should lead to criminal charges, saying he would not fall into “such an obvious trap.”
Still, he insisted action is needed. “We have heard gunshots in Montreal,” he said. “Glass has been shattered. There has been graffiti, and it has all been directed at the Jewish community. We fear these acts were incited by a Criminal Code exemption that allows hate speech.”
He warned that living in a diverse and peaceful society means accepting limits. “There is a price to living in harmony,” Blanchet said. “Sometimes that price is refusing certain inappropriate privileges that allow hatred to be spread in the name of religion.”