(LifeSiteNews) — Canadians from coast to coast gathered in the hundreds in front of multiple Liberal MPs’ offices, including Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office, on May 1 in protest of Bill C-9, a bill that criminalizes religious expression and belief when quoting parts of the Bible, including passages about homosexuality and gender.

In total, protests were held at about 44 Liberal MP offices nationwide, across all nine provinces, according to Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), which organized the protests.

CLC hosted the protests to stop Bill C-9 in its tracks as it works its way through the Senate. CLC noted that senators could “at the very least” amend the bill by “restoring the ‘good faith’ religious defence to the Criminal Code, so that people of faith cannot be charged for quoting Bible passages or for expressing biblically based moral beliefs.”

In comments sent to LifeSiteNews, CLC’s Director of Political Operations, Jack Fonseca, said that it is Liberal MPs who are “responsible for this censorship bill, which aims to criminalize politically incorrect passages of the Holy Bible, and other sacred texts, as ‘hate speech.’”

“If the Senate passes C-9 into law, it is Liberal MPs who will be blamed by constituents, and they’ll certainly face backlash at the ballot box in the next election,” he said. 

Bill C-9, known as the “Combatting Hate Act,” as reported by LifeSiteNews, was recently passed by the House of Commons and is now almost through the Senate. Conservative, NDP, and Green Party MPs voted against the bill, a rare display of unity among the usually opposing parties.

Fonseca said one of the goals of the protest was that Liberal MPs would “feel enough heat from voters getting out in the street to protest at their offices over the bill, that pressure could reach the Senate, where the majority of senators were appointed by former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.”

“I hope such pressure will help persuade Senators to defeat or amend C-9,” he added.

Canadian pro-life and faith groups, including a Catholic cardinal, sounded the alarm over Bill C-9. Indeed, in a recent letter to Canadian senators last month, Cardinal Frank Leo, the metropolitan archbishop of Toronto, said that while the Catholic Church recognizes “the importance of addressing hatred and protecting individuals and communities from violence,” changes are needed to the bill.

The removal of the religious exemption prompted condemnation from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which issued an open letter criticizing the proposed amendment and calling for its repeal.

Many Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MPs blasted the bill’s passage, with MP and former CPC leader Andrew Scheer calling it a “dark day” for Canada.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Bill C-9 has been blasted by constitutional experts as allowing empowered police and the government to go after those deemed to have violated a person’s “feelings” in a “hateful” way. The bill was introduced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser last year.