Groups that opposed Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act and its threat to criminalize religious speech, are celebrating after the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights voted Jan. 26 to delay further consideration until after tackling Bill C-14, the Bail Reform and Sentencing Act.

The pause, agreed to by both Liberals and Conservatives on the committee, could be very short-lived though. The lull is expected to last at least two weeks.

Upon its tabling in late September, proponents of Bill C-9 touted how its passage would stop obstructionist activities outside faith-based establishments and stop the brandishing of terror symbols in public. However, within days, nearly 40 civil liberty organizations publicly expressed uneasiness with the act’s potential to criminalize ordinary speech and strip away safeguards that uphold Charter rights.

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As the bill developed, the level of concern mounted, especially after the Bloc Québécois introduced an amendment to remove religious speech protections from Canada's hate speech laws. The Bloc made it clear that its adoption is the price for its support at third reading. The Liberal committee members voted in favour of the controversial measure on Dec. 10.

Opposition persisted throughout the parliamentary recess, and a noteworthy breakthrough was achieved on day one of the winter session.

Canadian Constitutional Foundation (CCF) litigation director Christine Van Geyn applauded the decision to punt Bill C-9 behind other draft laws.

“Bill C-9 threatened constitutionally-protected expression and would have led to the chilling of necessary public debate across Canada,” said Van Geyn. “Shelving it for now is an important step toward preserving free speech, which we hope leads to the full abandonment of this deeply flawed legislation.”

The advocacy group 4 My Canada mobilized a 12-day phone campaign against Bill C-9 that saw 2,000 Canadians from coast to coast complete 40,000 phone calls to Members of Parliament from Jan. 15 to 26. This operation was primarily directed toward Liberal MPs who achieved 2025 electoral victories by small margins.  

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Faytene Grasseschi, the executive director of 4 My Canada, expressed hope that the federal government will heed the message delivered by Canadians of different faith backgrounds.

“Plainly put, this is the wrong bill at the wrong time,” Grasseschi said. “It reflects poorly on the Liberals — especially alongside recent threats related to the revocation of charitable status for faith-based organizations. To many Canadians, this signals growing opposition to people of faith who are not part of the government’s traditional voting base. These are deeply troubling optics. For this, and other reasons, we sincerely hope they will change course.”

Conservative MPs Garnett Genuis and Roman Baber stated in separate social media videos this represents “a major climbdown from the Liberals,” while Conservative parliamentarian Andrew Lawton touted how “your voices have been heard loud and clear.” Genuis did caution, however, that “the Bill C-9 fight is not over. The Liberals said they will come back to it once the bail issue is done.”

The Liberal Party is indeed focused on tackling community crime at the present moment. Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon even declared on Jan. 26 that “it’s time for the Conservatives to put up or shut up on crime.” He called for the quick passage of Bill C-14 and Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, which concerns intimate partner violence.

While a détente was achieved between the two leading parties concerning the scheduling of bill examinations, the over 40 minutes of committee discussion about Bill C-9 before the vote to delay made it clear that the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc stances on the Combatting Hate Act as a whole, and the amendment to remove the religious speech protection from section 319 of the Criminal Code, remains unchanged.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather suggested “the claims that have been made that people will no longer be able to preach the Bible, the Torah, the Quran or any religious text without being charged with hate speech are absurd. It doesn’t deserve the credence being given to it.”

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto, the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) and leaders of many other faiths are in evident disagreement.

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The bishops stated the religious speech protections' removal “risks creating uncertainty for faith communities, clergy, educators and others who may fear that the expression of traditional moral or doctrinal teachings could be misinterpreted as hate speech and could subject the speaker to proceedings that threaten imprisonment of up to two years.”

While Conservative MPs on the justice committee again stated their opposition to Bill C-9, they did concur with Housefather’s convictions that more must be done to stop the rising tide of anti-Semitism in the world.