Bill C9
The Supreme Court of Canada defines hatred as: “Emotion of an intense and extreme nature that is clearly associated with vilification and detestation.”
The Court also explained that hatred refers to speech that: portrays a group as dangerous, subhuman, or worthless; encourages others to despise or mistreat the group goes beyond dislike, criticism, or offence.
What does NOT count as hatred under Canadian law –
The Supreme Court has repeatedly clarified that hatred does NOT include: mere dislike,
ridicule or satire, offensive or insulting speech,
strong criticism of beliefs, politics, or religion.
In simple terms under Canadian criminal law:
Criticizing or offending a group → legal;
Extreme vilification or dehumanization of a group → may qualify as hate propaganda.
C-9 keeps and clarifies protections for certain religious expression, but it does not allow religion as a blanket exemption for promoting hatred.
- Existing religious protection in the Criminal Code. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, section 319(3) already provides a defence for hate-speech charges if a person:
- expressed or attempted to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.
This defence applies only if the statements are made in good faith.
- What Bill C-9 does:
Bill C-9 does not remove this defence. The bill keeps the existing protection for good-faith religious discussion or teaching. In other words, the bill still allows:
- Quoting or teaching religious texts
- Expressing religious doctrines
- Debating religious beliefs
- What is NOT protected
The defence does not apply if the speech crosses into criminal hate propaganda, such as:
- wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group
-inciting violence or genocide
If speech reaches that threshold, religious motivation would not protect it.