(LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian Liberal bill that will repeal religious protections and effectively criminalize quoting parts of the Bible, including on homosexuality, was amended at the last minute to ban images of a noose because a senator said it’s a symbol of “White supremacy.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Canadian senators voted last week to approve the Liberals’ Bill C-9 or “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime, and access to religious or cultural places).”
However, because the last-minute amendment adding the noose was made, the bill must go back to the House of Commons before it is sent to the Governor General for Royal Assent to become law. This is expected to happen later this week.
The noose amendment was added by Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, who said that it should be added after a young man in a pickup truck with a noose hanging from the back told her once to “go back to Africa.”
She claimed that the noose “is a current, relevant symbol of White supremacy that is used to intimidate and invoke fear in Black people.”
Other symbols banned include the Nazi swastika as well as the Nazi double Sig-Rune or SS bolts.
As written, Bill C-9 states that it is an offense for anyone to willfully promote hatred against any identifiable group by displaying the symbols on the list in a public place.
Other listed symbols include the Nazi swastika and the Nazi double Sig-Rune, also known as the SS bolts. Bernard’s amendment adds a “noose” to that section.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Canadian senators voted down last week a recent proposed amendment to Bill C-9 that would have criminalized “residential school denialism.”
Constitutional experts have blasted the bill as allowing empowered police and the government to go after those deemed to have violated a person’s “feelings” in a “hateful” way. The bill was introduced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser last year.
Specifically, Bill C-9 would remove Section 319(3)(b) of Canada’s Criminal Code.
This section protects the good-faith expression of a person’s religious views based on religious texts such as the Holy Bible.
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) blasted the passage of Bill C-9, saying that “God will not be mocked.”
“This is a dark day for religious freedom and free speech in Canada,” said Jeff Gunnarson, national president of CLC.
Canadian pro-life and faith groups as well as a Catholic cardinal sounded the alarm over the legislation. Indeed, in a recent letter to Canadian senators, Cardinal Frank Leo, the metropolitan archbishop of Toronto, said that while the Catholic Church recognizes “the importance of addressing hatred and protecting individuals and communities from violence,” changes are needed to the bill.