Religious Rights Should Not Be Compromised in the Name of Islamophobia
Please Stop and Withdraw Bill C-9 Entirely from Parliament
Centre culturel islamique de Québec in Sainte-Foy
Jawed Anwar
There was once a very loyal bodyguard of a king. He remained ever ready and vigilant to protect the king at all times.
One day, a fly sat on the king’s nose.
The bodyguard immediately drew his sword and killed the fly.
But in this act of “bravery and alertness,” he ended up cutting off the king’s nose.
I don’t know why this story came to mind when I read the statement of our Prime Minister Mark Carney.
On January 29, Mr. Carney issued a statement:
“Today, we remember and honour the lives of Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine Soufiane, and Aboubaker Thabti, who were brutally murdered in the Islamophobic attack at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec in Sainte-Foy, which also left 19 people injured.
The horror of that day remains a solemn reminder of the pervasiveness of Islamophobia and the devastating consequences of hatred.
It is our duty to match remembrance with responsibility – and build a country where all Canadians can live openly, freely, and safely. The government is taking decisive action to address the horrifying rise in hate and hate-motivated crimes in our communities, including through Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate. We are also committed to engaging with Canadians across the country, including through reforms to the Canada Community Security Program, to help communities more effectively address hate-motivated crime.
Our government stands with the Muslim community against hate and remains steadfast in our commitment to build a country where Canadians of all faiths can thrive.”
Thank you very much, PM Carney, for this statement.
However, we Muslims will not allow you to cut our nose. We will not compromise and allow you to pass Bill C-9.
We believe it is not an anti-hate bill; instead, it is an anti-religion and anti-religious rights bill.
Our stand is very clear against Bill C-9:
• Selective Persecution and Inconsistencies: While the bill claims to combat hate like Islamophobia, it harshly penalizes faith groups for upholding religious teachings/morals. Please note that Canadian laws offer leniency to violent offenders such as rapists and pedophiles through prior legislation, but jail religious preachers.
• Suppression of Religious Symbols and Practices: The legislation bans “terrorism or hate symbols,” potentially targeting items like the Palestinian kaffiyeh worn by many Muslims, equating cultural or solidarity expressions with hatred and subjecting Islamic communities to disproportionate harassment.
• Overreach into Religious Education and Worship: By repealing protections in the Criminal Code (e.g., paragraph 319(3)(b)), Bill C-9 exposes Muslim educators and leaders to liability for good-faith discussions of religious subjects, stifling Islamic schools, mosques, and community centers from freely practicing and transmitting faith.
• Disproportionate Impact on Faith Groups: As highlighted by Muslim organizations, the bill risks over-enforcement against already surveilled communities like Muslims, turning routine religious activities into crimes while ignoring existing laws that adequately address hate.
Attacks on Human Rights and Freedom of Expression
• Erosion of Free Speech and Dissent: Bill C-9 criminalizes “willful promotion of hatred” through vague provisions, removing Attorney General consent for prosecutions and allowing subjective complaints to silence opinions, prayers, or protests deemed offensive, directly violating Charter-protected freedoms.
• Criminalization of Peaceful Protest: It creates “protest-free zones” around places of worship, schools, and community centers, imposing up to 10-year sentences for actions that “provoke fear” or disrupt access, even for legitimate demonstrations against policies like those in Gaza or institutional harms, stifling collective expression and human rights advocacy.
• Expansion of Police Powers and Selective Enforcement: By broadening police discretion and eliminating oversight, the bill enables arbitrary targeting of dissenters, particularly in over-policed groups, while shielding institutions from scrutiny—undermining equality rights and fostering a police state mentality.
• Chilling Effect on Society: The legislation duplicates existing Criminal Code protections against hate crimes but adds redundant, overly broad offenses that deter free expression, association, and labor rights (e.g., criminalizing strikes), rolling back decades of progress on human rights.
• Threat to Broader Freedoms: It prioritizes suppressing “hate” in a way that equates moral or political disagreement with criminality, potentially criminalizing thoughts and creating a precedent for further erosions of fundamental rights like freedom of assembly and conscience.
Dear PM Mark Carney! Please stop and withdraw Bill C-9 entirely from Parliament.
yes. What you said. Non- religious person who advocates for the right to be , absent harm to others. While the rich stoke hate and division in order to eliminate all religion and bring on a different religion called the great reset.
Religion with hate, is not spirituality. Spirituality is basic human right. Not to be given, or removed by anyone.
I think this bill was mostly to silence Christians, but Muslims find they’re being affected as well. There are already hate laws to combat hate in the Criminal code & in the Charter.