With his newly tabled Bill C-290, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis seeks to amend the Criminal Code so that the theft of property with religious or cultural significance is treated by law enforcement with the same gravity as artifacts of high monetary worth.

“It is difficult at times to share the meaning of these items with police,” said Genuis. “The current laws on theft are focused on economics — there is a gap. We need a serious law that addresses the theft of items with other notions of value.”

Bill C-290 essentially creates a separate criminal offence for the theft of culturally or religiously significant property. Regardless of its monetary value, such larceny would carry equivalent penalties as theft of property worth more than $5,000.

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A perpetrator proven guilty of burglary could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. A person possessing property of religious or cultural value with no lawful excuse is punishable with up to five years of incarceration.

Genuis was motivated to develop this legislation after visiting St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Pilgrim Church in Scarborough, Ont., with Conservative colleague Andrew Lawton Jan. 21. They sought to gather information and comfort this congregation after a first-class relic of St. Thomas the Apostle and the key to the tabernacle were stolen the previous week.

A religious nun arrived that morning to discover the sacristy and parish office breached. All cupboards and drawers were opened and documents were scattered on the office floor.

“This was clearly a targeted action,” said Genuis. “They took the relic and then searched for the records to prove its authenticity.”

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Fr. Baiju Chakkery told the Register a few days after the break-and-enter that the relic “has great emotional value to the people here. It matters for our faith.”

Genuis said this Criminal Code reform would also be appreciated by museums, Indigenous nations and other ethnocultural communities.

Asked to gauge confidence in support for his bill, especially from the majority Liberals, Genuis said it “is early days, but nothing in principle should be opposed by other parties.”

But the four-term representative for the Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan riding in Alberta shared his observation that “there is not the same level of condemnation or response” from “politicians, the media and other elites” in reaction to acts of theft, arson or hate against Christian communities compared to other groups. The Roman Catholic accentuated “that we stand in solidarity” with Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and other communities victimized by criminal acts.

Notably, there were two occasions when Liberals and NDP MPs refused to condemn acts of arson and vandalism — now more than 130 — carried out against Christian churches since May 27, 2021, when the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc Nation announced the unproven discovery of 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

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The first instance was during the Oct. 24, 2023, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee meeting. The Liberals and NDP refuted a motion from Conservative Arnold Viersen to denounce these attacks. The then governing coalition also turned down Conservative Corey Tochor on Feb. 12, 2024. He called for a unanimous consent condemnation of the fiery desecration that occurred at Blessed Sacrament Church in Regina two days beforehand.

Parliament is scheduled to resume Sept. 21. Given Bill C-290 is listed outside the Private Members’ Business Order of Precedence, it is unclear when this legislative proposal will complete its first hour of second-reading debate.