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Quebec politicians call for the end of protecting hate speech delivered under the guise of religion
Legal loopholes are protecting behaviours and speech that lead to discrimination and violence, says Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who wants the religious exceptions for hate speech removed from Canada’s Criminal Code.
In a Nov. 27 letter to his federal and provincial counterparts, obtained by The CJN, he asked federal Justice Minister Arif Virani to criminalize hate speech delivered under the guise of faith, after criticizing the inaction of federal lawmakers following recurring outbursts in Montreal—which, he says, contributes to a toxic climate.
At issue are two lines in section 319, 3b and 3.1b, which state, “No person shall be convicted of an offence… if, in good faith, they expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”
The exception provides a legal shield for radical extremists to encourage hatred and intolerance towards ethnic and religious groups, Jolin-Barrette wrote, or to disseminate racist, misogynistic or homophobic messages, “undermining our governments’ efforts towards peaceful co-existence.”
Jolin-Barrette insists the move is urgent and would not unjustifiably impede freedom of expression and the ability of individuals to express their religious beliefs. “On the contrary, this withdrawal would protect the rights and dignity of all Quebecers and Canadians, in accordance with the fundamental values of respect and inclusion that must guide us.”
One case that prompted the drive to amend the Code was Montreal imam Adil Charkaoui’s infamous speech at a demonstration in downtown Montreal three weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel. In front of thousands of supporters, he called on God to “kill the enemies of the people of Gaza and to spare none of them” and “take care” of “Zionist aggressors.”
That and other incidents since have raised awareness among many Canadians of the existence of the Criminal Code religious exception and raised in stark relief the barriers to prosecuting such behaviour, evidenced by Quebec prosecutors deciding not to prosecute Charkaoui for lack of confidence in a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
A few weeks after that call to arms, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet tabled Bill C-367, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred or antisemitism), which would simply repeal the clauses, but has been stalled since first reading. The uncertainty regarding the next parliamentary session amid the current turmoil of the Trudeau government and the legislative calendar makes the bill’s progress even more uncertain.
According to a February 2024 Léger poll of 1,529 Canadian adults, 66 percent of Canadians support Blanchet’s bill, while 75 percent of Quebecers are in favour, the highest number in Canada. The largest number of those opposed to the bill were in Alberta and Atlantic Canada, with 43 percent and 42 percent, respectively. Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) of Canadians reported not being aware that the Criminal Code contains a section on hate speech, with Quebecers the most likely to not be aware (34 percent).
In Quebec, where rejection of religious dogma and exceptionalism has grown for decades, “secularism of the state presupposes equal treatment of citizens before the law, guaranteeing that it applies to all regardless of religious convictions,” Jolin-Barrette wrote on social media, adding the exception is incompatible “with the secularism and social values of the Quebec nation…. The federal government must not wait for further outbursts, it must amend the Criminal Code.”
Quebec’s opposition Liberals support its removal and his motion, which was adopted unanimously by Quebec’s National Assembly. The Quebec Conservative Party’s spokesman, Cedric Lapointe, says the growing demand to remove the protections is “excellent news—no one should be allowed to threaten or incite violence, regardless of their religious beliefs.… Adil Charkaoui should be charged with hate speech and imprisoned for publicly stating that all Israelis should be eliminated.”
The view of B’nai Brith Canada is that recent incidents demonstrate the exemption has been abused and allowed hate-mongers to escape prosecution for inflicting substantial harms which the wilful promotion of hatred provision was created to prevent. “By limiting the breadth of the conduct which is considered exempt under Section 319(3)(b), Parliament should ensure that the exemption is not being used as a way to circumvent prosecution.”
To see or hear peaceful demonstrations is always welcome, Blanchet told reporters on Dec. 4. “It’s normal, it’s part of democracy. It’s even more normal on university campuses. But we must not give in to hate speech or invitations to violence.” He pushed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the issue earlier that day in Parliament, stating, “I get the impression that the prime minister does not appreciate how serious the situation is…. The Jewish community in Canada and Quebec is afraid. Here and in Quebec, because of the federal government, people can incite violence against Jews with impunity.”
He says the “vast majority of Quebecers and the vast majority of Canadians” want the change. “There’s no strategic calculation, there’s no negotiation, we all want something done.”
When pressed by Blanchet, Trudeau responded that Conservative filibustering—with Bloc support—precluded meaningful debate or progress on many files, but then relented, stating the government is “very open to discussing, debating and moving forward on this issue. We recognize that there is no simple or easy solution to this.” Trudeau reiterated that Blanchet’s bill is only a partial solution, “but we must continue to work together. That is why we introduced Bill C‑63, which addresses online hate, protects our children and will be part of the solutions across the country to combat hate and discrimination, especially online.”
The government’s Bill 63 (the Online Harms Act), among other things, amends the Criminal Code with definitions of hate and other provisions, as well as the Canadian Human Rights Act, while putting much of the onus on digital platforms to assume responsibility for harmful content.
Blanchet told reporters the bill is very complex and he’s uncertain if his proposal should be folded into it. “There are elements where there is criminalization on the basis of intent that is very difficult to demonstrate, with very serious penalties that cannot be adopted as such. So we can’t say we’re going to put the law on religious exception inside that.” He would prefer, he says, to just remove the exception from the Criminal Code.
In a Dec. 3 open letter, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs vice-presidents Eta Yudin and Richard Marceau said the “good faith” proviso is problematic. “Can people spread hatred and incite violence while acting in good faith?” they asked. “Can one freely wish for the annihilation of a group while pleading that it was a simple prayer?” There should be a logical answer, they say, but “that is not how it works in Canada.”
“How can we imagine that the calls for murder that we have been hearing constantly in our ‘streets of peace’ for weeks are declarations of ‘good faith’?”
The exemption, they say, “often acts more as a deterrent to prosecution than anything else,” adding Canada’s image and the security of its citizens can be “undermined by this wait-and-see attitude.” Demonstrations in Montreal over the last 14 months have seen some promote “under the cover of ‘preaching’, calls for the death of ‘Zionists’, invocations of jihad and declarations of rallying to recognized terrorist organizations,” says the CIJA statement. “Where is the good faith here?”
The drive to amend the law is happening against the backdrop of a year of unprecedented hate expressed in cities across the country. Jews are the single most targeted group for hate crimes by a wide margin, especially after Oct. 7, 2023, Montreal police have reported.
According to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), 310 hate crimes and incidents were recorded against the Jewish (230) and Arab-Muslim (80) communities, and 42 individuals have been charged with hate crimes since Oct. 7, 2023. The statistics follow a national trend. According to Statistics Canada, police-reported crimes against Jews across Canada numbered 900 in 2023, a 71-percent increase from 2022.
The most frequently reported hate crimes in Canada were directed against Jews, who, along with LGBTQIA2+ and Black Canadians, account for 19, 18 and 16 percent of hate crimes, respectively.
Abolition of the religious exemption is a key CIJA recommendation to better combat hate speech and speech glorifying terror, spokesman Julien Corona told The CJN. “This abolition must ensure that they are fully sanctioned. We cannot afford to tolerate words that promote the explosion of antisemitism and hatred in what are supposed to be our ‘streets of peace’.” Jolin-Barrette is showing leadership on this issue with this letter, says Corona. “It’s high time the federal government followed through.”
Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather has supported removing the religious exemption for hate speech for years, telling The CJN, “I continue to support it, and I support the private member’s bill that has been put forward to do this.” The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops had no comment about Blanchet’s bill, but said members of its Permanent Council “are aware of the matter and are monitoring it closely.”
While Trudeau affirmed last year that Canada already has very strict rules against incitement to hatred, genocide and violence, CIJA posted on social media that the last 14 months in Montreal proves that is not the case.
“Condemnations are no longer enough. We need action.”
The post Quebec politicians call for the end of protecting hate speech delivered under the guise of religion appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Ukraine Condemns Russian FM Lavrov’s Comments Calling Zelensky a ‘Pure Nazi,’ ‘Traitor to Jews’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 18, 2025. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Ukraine has lambasted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “pure Nazi” and a “traitor to the Jewish people,” describing his comments as antisemitic and urging Israel and Jewish organizations to condemn them.
Lavrov attacked Zelensky, who is Jewish, during a new interview published in Krasnaya Zvezda, the official publication of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Zelensky made a 180-degree turn from a person who came to power with slogans of peace, with slogans like ‘leave the Russian language alone, it is our common language, our common culture’ and in six months turned into a pure Nazi and, as Russian President Vladimir Putin correctly said, a traitor to the Jewish people,” Lavrov said in remarks echoing the Kremlin’s propaganda that the Ukrainian president is “nazifying” Kyiv.
Lavrov’s comments resembled previous rhetoric from Putin in 2023, when he called Zelensky a “disgrace to Jewish people.”
In response, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Lavrov’s remarks as “antisemitism,” noting the top Russian diplomat claimed in 2022 that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood.”
“Such statements are not just insane. They must be called out for what they truly are: antisemitism,” Heorhii Tykhyi posted on X/Twitter. “We urge Israel and Jewish organizations worldwide to condemn Lavrov’s repeated and outrageous falsehoods.”
“Zelensky is a pure Nazi and a traitor to the Jewish people”, said Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
Just to remind, in 2022, this same person claimed that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood”.
Such statements are not just insane. They must be called out for what they truly…
— Heorhii Tykhyi (@SpoxUkraineMFA) March 2, 2025
As part of its ongoing propaganda campaign to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, Russia has relied on such rhetoric and claims invoking the Nazis for decades, insisting that Kyiv has no distinct culture or state and has always been part of Moscow’s “own history, culture, and spiritual space.”
For example, in an attempt to justify the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Putin labeled its leaders as “neo-Nazis” and invoked World War II rhetoric, claiming that Russia’s so-called “special military operation” was meant to “de-nazify” the country.
Jewish community groups and the international community at large have repeatedly denounced Russia’s use of Holocaust and World War II terminology to justify its invasion of Ukraine, which Kyiv’s allies have condemned as an aggressive land grab.
Lavrov’s remarks came after a tense meeting between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump last week, as early steps for ceasefire negotiations remain fragile. The high-level White House talks on Friday added further uncertainty to a potential US-Ukraine deal on natural resources and peace efforts with Russia.
During the meeting, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance called on Kyiv to express greater gratitude for US support and accept a ceasefire with Russia, despite the lack of clear security guarantees from Washington.
Speaking with reporters in the room, Trump told Zelenskyy that he is not in a position to make any demands and accused him of “gambling with World War Three.”
“You don’t have the cards … You’ve allowed yourself to be put in a very bad position,” Trump said, referring to the ongoing war with Moscow.
After the meeting, Russian officials praised Trump for his “proper slap down” of Zelensky and dismissed the Ukrainian president’s claims that Russia illegally invaded the country in 2022.
Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov reportedly told reporters that Trump’s shift in foreign policy “largely coincides with our [Russia’s] vision.”
During the London Summit with European leaders last weekend, Turkey offered to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. As a NATO member, Turkey had previously facilitated negotiations after Russia’s 2022 invasion and helped secure a grain export deal in the Black Sea. Ankara has emphasized that any future discussions must include both countries.
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Ivy League Schools Score Mediocre Grades in New ADL Campus Report Card
Pro-Hamas protesters at Columbia University on April 19, 2024. Photo: Melissa Bender via Reuters Connect
Ivy League institutions launched mediocre policy responses to rising anti-Jewish hatred during the 2023-2024 academic year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Campus Antisemitism Report Card.
Released on Monday, halfway into spring term, the report lists grades that are based on two criteria, “what’s happening on campus” and “university policies and responsive action.” In total, the ADL assessed 135 colleges and universities across the US, only eight of which — Elon University, Vanderbilt University, University of Alabama, Florida International University, University of Miami, City University of New York’s (CUNY) Brooklyn College, CUNY Queens College, and Brandeis University — merited an “A” grade.
No Ivy League institution — save Dartmouth College, which notched a “B” grade — earned better than a “C,” a mark given to Brown University, Cornell University, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Princeton University, Yale University, and Columbia University rated lowest, scoring “D” grades.
“I said it last year, and I’ll say it again: every single campus should get an ‘A.’ This isn’t a high bar — this should be standard,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a press release announcing the report. “While many campuses have improved in ways that are encouraging and commendable, Jewish students still do not feel safe or included on too many campuses. The progress we’ve seen is evidence that change is possible — all university leaders should focus on addressing these very real challenges with real action.”
Harvard’s receiving a “C” comes amid a period described by observers as a low point in its history. The institution, America’s oldest and arguably most prestigious, recently settled a merged lawsuit in which two groups accused it of refusing to discipline an allegedly antisemitic professor and other perpetrators of anti-Jewish discrimination, hate speech, and harassment. For months, the university’s legal counsel strove to dismiss the complainant’s charges, arguing that they lacked legal standing. Meanwhile, its highly reputed Law School saw its student government issue a defamatory resolution which accused Israel of genocide; its students quoted terrorists during an “Apartheid Week” event held in April; and dozens of its students and faculty participated in an illegal pro-Hamas encampment attended by members of a group that had shared an antisemitic cartoon earlier that year.
Antisemitic outrages have continued into the 2024-2025 academic year. In November, Harvard’s Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life was criticized by rising Jewish civil rights activist Shabbos Kestenbaum for omitting any mention of antisemitism from a statement precipitated by antisemitic behavior. The sharp words followed the office’s response to a hateful demonstration on campus in which pro-Hamas students stood outside Harvard Hillel and called for it to banned from campus.
“We have noticed a trend of expression in which entire groups of students are told they ‘are not welcome here’ because of their religious, cultural, ethnic, or political commitments and identities, or are targeted through acts of vandalism,” the office said, seemingly circumventing the matter at hand. “We find this trend disturbing and anathema to the dialogue and connection across lines of difference that must be a central value and practice of a pluralistic institution of higher learning.”
In response, Kestenbaum, said: “Harvard Jews were told by masked students ‘Zionists aren’t welcome here’ outside of the Hillel, the Chaplain Office finally released a statement that did not include the words Jew, Zionism, Israel, or antisemitism. A total abdication of religious responsibility.”
Columbia University’s poor mark reflects a widely held view that its officials have failed to prevent anti-Zionist activists — both professors and students — from fostering a noxious campus environment in which denigrating Jews and advocating for the destruction of Israel is defended as the pursuit of social justice.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Columbia University remains one of the most hostile campuses for Jews employed by or enrolled in an institution of higher education. Since Oct. 7, 2023, it has produced some of the most indelible examples of campus antisemitism, including a student who proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself, brutal gang-assaults on Jewish students, and administrative officials who, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting.
Amid these incidents, the university has struggled to contain members of the anti-Zionist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which just last month committed an act of infrastructural sabotage by flooding the toilets of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with concrete. Numerous reports indicate the attack may be the premeditated result of planning sessions which took place many months ago at an event held by Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) — a literary society, according to the Washington Free Beacon. During the event, the Free Beacon reported, ADP distributed literature dedicated to “aspiring revolutionaries” who wish to commit seditious acts. Additionally, a presentation was given in which complete instructions for the exact kind of attack which struck Columbia were shared with students.
CUAD struck Columbia again on Wednesday, occupying the Milbank Hall administrative building at Barnard College to protest disciplinary sanctions imposed on student activists as punishment for a previous incident. During the demonstration, a staff member was so badly assaulted as to require medical attention, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Amid these issues, many schools did see their grades improve over the previous year, the ADL said, explaining that over 50 percent of the schools included in the Campus Report Card — including Vanderbilt University, which did not earn an “A” last year while Harvard was given an “F” — moved to improve the campus climate for Jewish students.
“The improvement on campus is largely due to new administrative initiatives implemented in response to the campus antisemitism crisis,” ADL vice president of advocacy, Shira Goodman, said on Monday. “We’re glad that improving the campus climate for Jewish students was a priority for many of these schools, and we hope all colleges and universities understand the importance of developing and enforcing strong policies and procedures to create a safe and welcoming environment for Jewish students and all students.”
Higher education institutions have an added incentive to address antisemitism, as the reelection of US President Donald Trump in November brought to Washington, DC a chief executive who has threatened to tax the endowments of those that do not.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump issued an executive order which directed the federal government to employ “all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” Additionally, the order initiated a full review of the explosion of campus antisemitism on US colleges across the country after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a convulsive moment in American history to which the previous administration struggled to respond during the final year and a half of its tenure.
“This failure is unacceptable,” Trump said. “It shall be the policy of the United States to combat antisemitism vigorously, using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Leftist Internet Personality Confronts Ritchie Torres Over Israel Support, Unleashes Lewd and Antisemitic Tirade
US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks during the House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 2021. Photo: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS
In a viral video which circulated over the weekend, a leftist social media influencer followed US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on the streets of New York City, hurling antisemitic, sexually explicit, and racially charged rhetoric at the lawmaker over his support for Israel.
The influencer, who goes by “Crackhead Barney,” confronted and grilled Torres about his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The provocateur, whose real name has not been revealed to the public, taunted Torres as a “coon” and asked the lawmaker why he supports a so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
“Why are you sucking Zionist c—k?” Barney asked.
“You’re a coon. Why do you suck Zionist c—k? Is it the money?” the influencer asked. “Show us the money, Ritchie. Show us the money.”
When asked by Torres if she supports the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, the influencer responded “of course.” She then claimed that Israel “is the biggest terrorist organization.” The social media personality lambasted Torres as a “terrorist” and stated that he “sucks [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s c—k.”
The leftist firebrand accused Torres of accepting “genocidal money” and asked him if he was “going to kill more babies?” She also admitted to interrupting Torres’s event at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan to protest the war in Gaza.
The content creator attempted to coax Torres multiple times into saying “Free Palestine,” a phrase which many observers interpret as a call for the destruction of Israel.
“Say ‘free Palestine’ and I will leave you alone,” Barney said.
“There is no universe in which I will say that,” Torres responded.
After finally relenting and allowing Torres to walk away, Barney shouted “free Palestine!” multiple times and said the lawmaker “supports the mass murder of babies.”
The internet personality has gained notoriety for ambushing celebrities and high-profile media figures in public, conducting impromptu interviews and engaging in provocative behavior. In the 16 months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, slaughter of 1,200 people throughout southern Israel, Barney has started targeting and harassing public figures supportive of the Jewish state. In April 2024, she made headlines after she confronted actor Alec Baldwin and pressed him to say, “Free Palestine.”
Torres, a self-described progressive, has established himself as a stalwart ally of the Jewish state. Torres has repeatedly defended Israel from unsubstantiated claims of committing “genocide” in Gaza. He has also consistently supported the continued shipment of American arms to help the Jewish state defend itself from Hamas terrorists. The lawmaker has directed sharp criticism toward university administrators for allowing Jewish students to be threatened on campus without consequence.
Warning: The video below contains lewd and explicit language.
I was walking on the streets of NYC when suddenly a pro-Hamas extremist began harassing me and hurling racial slurs. The confrontation illustrates just how unhinged the hate and harassment can be against those of us who have stood with Israel in the wake of 10/7.
Warning: the… pic.twitter.com/4QkzLAxNyx
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) March 2, 2025
The post Leftist Internet Personality Confronts Ritchie Torres Over Israel Support, Unleashes Lewd and Antisemitic Tirade first appeared on Algemeiner.com.