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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.”
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Rashida Tlaib Introduces Resolution to Mandate Federal Recognition of Palestinian ‘Nakba’
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Wednesday introduced a resolution recognizing the 77th anniversary of the “nakba,” the Arabic term for “catastrophe” used by Palestinians and anti-Israel activists to refer to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
“The nakba never ended. Today we are witnessing the Israeli apartheid regime carry out genocide in Gaza. It is a campaign to erase Palestinians from existence,” Tlaib said in a statement.
“War Criminal Netanyahu,” she continued, referring to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “has threatened to ethnically cleanse the entire Palestinian population in Gaza, annex the land, and permanently occupy it. As we mark the 77th anniversary of the nakba, we honor all of those killed since the ethnic cleansing of Palestine began, and the Palestinians who were forced from their homes and violently displaced from their land.”
Co-sponsors of the bill include Democratic Reps. André Carson (IN), Summer Lee (PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Delia Ramirez (IL), Lateefah Simon (CA), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ).
The resolution does not mention the Jewish people’s millennia-long connection to the land of Israel or any instances of Palestinian terrorism against the Jewish state.
“Nakba refers not only to a historical event but to an ongoing process of Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land and its dispossession of the Palestinian people that continues to this day, including the systematic destruction of Palestinian homes, the construction and expansion of illegal settlements, and the confinement of Palestinians to ever-shrinking areas of land,” the bill reads.
“It is the sense of the House of Representatives that it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the nakba through official recognition and remembrance; denounce the ongoing nakba of the Palestinian people; [and] reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States government with denial of the nakba.”
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American woman in Congress, further repudiated the US as being “an accomplice” in the alleged ongoing “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians” by supporting Israel’s defensive military efforts.
Since entering Congress in 2018, Tlaib has established herself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel. She has repeatedly characterized Israel as an “apartheid state” and accused the Jewish state of transforming Gaza into an “open-air prison.”
In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led slaughters in Israel, Tlaib ramped up her condemnations of the Jewish state. She was initially hesitant to condemn the terrorist attacks in Israel, in which 1,200 people were murdered and 250 hostages were kidnapped. However, Tlaib was among the first US lawmakers to accuse Israel of committing “genocide in Gaza. In most of her public statements regarding the war in Gaza, she has omitted any mention of the Hamas terrorist group. Moreover, the lawmaker has sparked backlash by attending multiple pro-Palestine events connected to terrorists.
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No Diploma for NYU Senior After Unauthorized Anti-Israel Commencement Speech
Students and professors attend the New York University (NYU) graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City, US, May 15, 2025. Photo: Eduardo Munoz via Reuters Connect.
New York University is withholding the diploma of a senior student at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study who lied to the administration about the content of his commencement speech to conceal its claim of a genocide taking place in Gaza, an anti-Israel falsehood propagated by neo-Nazi groups and jihadist terror organizations.
“My moral and political commitments guide me to say that the only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine” the student, Logan Rozos, said, delivering the unauthorized remarks to a din of acclamation from the audience. “I want to say that the genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars, and has been live streamed to our phones for the past 18 months.”
He continued, “I want to say that I condemn this genocide and complicity in this genocide.”
Rozos drew a trenchant rebuke from a university that has enacted a slew of policies to reduce antisemitic discrimination on its campuses. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, a bloody invasion that started the war in Gaza, NYU has issued policies which acknowledge the “coded” subtleties of antisemitic speech and its use in discriminatory conduct that targets Jewish students and faculty.
“NYU strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School’s graduation today — one of over 20 school graduation ceremonies across our campus — to misuse his role as student speaker to express his personal and one-sided political views,” university spokesman John Beckman said in a statement. “He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules. The university is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.”
He continued, “NYU is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.”
Jewish civil rights groups rebuked Rozos as well, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) saying he uttered “divisive and false comments about the current Israel/Hamas war.” The group added, “We are thankful to the NYU administration for their strong condemnation and rather pursuit of disciplinary action.”
End Jew Hatred (EJH), writing to The Algemeiner, called on NYU to impose the severest disciplinary measure possible on Rozos: withholding his diploma in perpetuity as punishment for using so high an honor to spread lies that have been used to justify antisemitic violence and discrimination.
“It was right to denounce his deception and abuse of the platform, and it was essential to affirm that hate speech masquerading as political commentary has no place at a graduation ceremony,” the group said. “But that cannot be where it ends. The diploma must be permanently withheld. The full process — from Rozos’s selection to speech approval to mic control — demands transparency. And NYU must do more than punish a student; it must confront the climate that made this outburst possible.”
The conclusion of the 2024-2025 academic year has seen other attempts to place anti-Zionism at the center of the public’s attention.
A group of pro-Hamas students at Yale University recently vowed to starve themselves inside an administrative building until such time as officials agree to their demands that the university’s endowment be divested of any ties to Israel as well as companies that do business with it. However, Yale officials are refusing to even meet with the students, who have been told that their demonstration, held in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall, is “in violation of university policy.”
At the University of Washington, in Seattle, over 30 members of a pro-Hamas student group calling itself “Super UW” were arrested for commandeering the university’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB) to protest and demand the termination of the institution’s partnerships with The Boeing Company, whose armaments manufacturing they identified as a resource aiding Israel’s war to eradicate Hamas from Gaza.
The illegal demonstration involved students establishing blockades near the building using “bike rack[s] and chairs,” burning trash — while setting off sizable fires — that they then left unattended, and calling for violence against the police. Law enforcement officers eventually entered the building equipped with riot gear, including helmets and batons.
University officials’ tolerance for such disruptions is depleting.
Earlier this month, George Washington University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter until Spring 2026, punishing the group for a series of unauthorized demonstrations it held on school property last month. The move marked one of the severest disciplinary sanctions SJP has provoked from the GW administration since it began violating rules on peaceful expression and assembly, as well as targeting school officials for harassment, following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Until next May, SJP is barred from advertising and may only convene to “complete sanctions or consult with their advisor,” according to a report by The GW Hatchet.
SJP will be placed on probation for one year after its suspension is lifted, the paper continued, during which it must request and acquire prior approval for any expressive activity. Additionally, members will be required to attend “teach-ins on university policy” for “ten consecutive semesters.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Trump Announces $200 Billion in Deals During UAE Visit, AI Agreement Signed
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Yousif Al Obaidli, director of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, as he tours the mosque grounds in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump on Thursday pledged to strengthen US ties to the United Arab Emirates and announced deals with the Gulf state totaling over $200 billion and the two countries also agreed to deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence.
After Trump’s meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the White House said he announced deals that included a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 Boeing 787 and 777x aircraft powered by engines made by GE Aerospace.
The US Commerce Department said the two countries also agreed to establish a “US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership” framework and Trump and Sheikh Mohamed attended the unveiling of a new 5GW AI campus, which would be the largest outside the United States.
Sources have said the agreements will give the Gulf country expanded access to advanced artificial intelligence chips from the US after previously facing restrictions over Washington’s concerns that China could access the technology.
Trump began a visit to the UAE on the latest stage of a tour of wealthy Gulf states after hailing plans by Doha to invest $10 billion in a US military facility during a trip to Qatar.
“I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better,” Trump said in a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“Your wonderful brother came to Washington a few weeks ago and he told us about your generous statement as to the 1.4 trillion,” Trump said, referring to a UAE pledge to invest $1.4 trillion in the US over 10 years.
Trump was referring to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohamed’s brother and the UAE’s national security adviser and chairman of two of Abu Dhabi’s deep-pocketed sovereign wealth funds.
The US president was met at the airport in Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Mohamed, and they visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, its white minarets and domes, impressive in the late-afternoon light.
“It is so beautiful,” Trump told reporters inside the mosque, which he said had been closed for the day.
“First time they closed it. It’s in honor of the United States. Better than in honor of me. Let’s give it to the country. That’s a great tribute.”
$200 BILLION IN NEW DEALS
A White House fact sheet said Trump had secured $200 billion in new US-UAE deals and accelerated the previously committed $1.4 trillion.
It said Emirates Global Aluminum would invest to develop a $4 billion primary aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, while ExxonMobil Corp, Occidental Petroleum, and EOG Resources were partnering with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in expanded oil and natural gas production valued at $60 billion.
Sheikh Mohamed told Trump the UAE was “keen to continue and strengthen this friendship for the benefit of the two countries and peoples,” adding to Trump: “your presence here today, your excellency, the president, confirms that this keenness is mutual.”
Before his departure for the UAE, Trump said in a speech to US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha that defense purchases signed by Qatar on Wednesday were worth $42 billion.
UAE has been seeking US help to make the wealthy Gulf nation a global leader in artificial intelligence.
The US has a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips a year, starting this year, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The deal would boost the UAE’s construction of data centers vital to developing AI models, although the agreement has provoked national security concerns among sectors of the US government.
The AI agreement “includes the UAE committing to invest in, build, or finance US data centers that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE,” the White House said.
“The agreement also contains historic commitments by the UAE to further align their national security regulations with the United States, including strong protections to prevent the diversion of US-origin technology.”
Former US President Joe Biden’s administration had imposed strict oversight of exports of US AI chips to the Middle East and other regions. Among Biden’s fears were that the prized semiconductors would be diverted to China and buttress its military strength.
At the UAE presidential palace, Trump and Sheikh Mohamed could be seen in TV footage in conversation with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Trump said he would probably return to Washington on Friday after a regional trip that began on Tuesday, although he said it was “almost destination unknown.” Trump had hinted he could stop in Istanbul for talks on Ukraine.
DEALS, DIPLOMACY
Other big business agreements have been signed during Trump’s four-day swing through the Gulf region, including a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.
The trip has also brought a flurry of diplomacy.
Trump said in Qatar that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.
He also announced on Tuesday the US would remove longstanding sanctions on Syria and subsequently met with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
He urged Sharaa to establish ties with Syria’s longtime foe Israel.
Trump has made improving ties with some Gulf countries a key goal of his administration. If all the proposed chip deals in Gulf states, and the UAE in particular, come together, the region would become a third power center in global AI competition after the United States and China.
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