A new hate crimes law in Canada has cleared its final legislative hurdle and is now set to become official law — and it’s drawing sharp criticism from faith communities.
The measure eliminates what was known as the good faith religious expression defence, which had previously shielded individuals from criminal hate speech convictions when expressing sincerely held religious beliefs. With that protection removed, someone in Canada who quotes Biblical passages regarding homosexuality could now face imprisonment.
Conservative Member of Parliament Brad Redekopp took to the social media platform X to voice his opposition after the bill passed. In his statement, he described the moment as “a dark day for Canada and an assault on faith.”
