Liberals and Bloc Québécois vote together to force an end to all debate on Bill C-9, meaning it will certainly become law 

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — All debate on a Liberal bill that could open the door to the criminalization of religious expression and belief when quoting certain parts of the Bible was stopped, meaning the bill will soon become law.

Yesterday, all Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs in a 186-144 vote banded together to force all debate on Bill C-9, known as the “Combating Hate Act.”

Bill C-9 is a Liberal Party censorship bill that has attracted a massive backlash from religious Canadians of many faiths. Once it becomes law, certain protections for sincerely held religious beliefs, particularly regarding LGBT issues, could be removed.

The bill is expected as early as later this week to be passed in the House of Commons and then head to the Senate for review, where it will most likely be rubber-stamped into law.

In comments sent to LifeSiteNews, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) campaigns manager David Cooke warned that Bill C-9, when it becomes law, will result in the “Prosecution of Canadian Christians” when quoting the Bible on issues of life and family.

“This bill will certainly result in the prosecution of Canadian Christians who quote Holy Scripture in defence of God’s design for marriage, gender, and the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death,” he warned.

“We have already seen vocal Christian street preachers and activists targeted by overzealous Attorneys General who object to the sharing of God’s Word with homosexuals, transgenders, and drag queens. This targeting will only multiply under Bill C-9, as the required Attorney General consent will be removed, allowing any police officer to lay charges based on any ‘tips’ or accusations from anyone in the public.”

Conservative MPs also blasted the move by the Liberals to “censor” debate on the bill.

“The Liberal and Bloc Québécois have just voted to censor debate on Bill C-9,” Conservative MP Andrew Lawton wrote on X. “The bill will now be rammed through committee tomorrow without the ability to debate or discuss amendments.”

Lawton recently accused Liberal MPs of laughing at a “motion” that would have restored “religious speech protections” to Bill C-9.

Conservative MPs have also warned that Bill C-9 is a direct “attack” on religious freedom and would allow the “prosecution” of those who simply read certain passages of Scripture in “good faith.” They have been battling the bill in committee.

The federal government, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, recently passed an amendment to the bill removing a religious exception, prompting condemnation by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, who penned an open letter blasting the proposed amendment and calling for its removal.

CLC had earlier warned that Bill C-9 would open the door to the “criminalization of religious expression and belief” when quoting the Bible.

CLC says Bill C-9 puts ‘noose on Canadians’ free speech rights’

In comments sent to LifeSiteNews, Cooke observed that the real goal of Bill C-9 is to “tighten the noose on Canadians’ free speech rights” and religious freedoms and bring in an “anti-God” agenda.

“The goal of this bill, from our perspective, is to tighten the noose on Canadians’ free speech rights so that radicals in the Liberal party can better control the narrative and more easily push through an anti-God, anti-life, and anti-family agenda,” he said.

“Calling abortion what it truly is – killing a human being – could be construed as vilifying women. Stating the obvious – that trans-women, i.e. biological men, should be removed from women’s washrooms and sports – could be construed as detesting transpeople,” he also warned.

Cooke said all Canadians need to “speak out” against Bill C-9 and demand from their local MP that it be dropped.

Conservative MP Larry Brock warned that attempting to “silence” all debate on important bills should not be tolerated.

“Despite months of testimony at committee and serious concerns raised by faith leaders and religious communities across Canada about removing a long-standing religious safeguard in the Criminal Code, the Liberal government is choosing to FORCE Bill C-9 forward,” Brock wrote in an X post today.

“Conservatives proposed a reasonable solution: move forward on the provisions with broad support while giving MPs the time needed to properly examine the removal of the religious exemption. The government refused. When legislation affects freedom of religion and freedom of expression, debate should never be silenced by the government.”

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