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Christians Fear Effects of Canada’s New Hate Crimes Law 4/30/2004 Signed into law, the bill punishes speech critical of any “sexual orientation.”
The measure passed Wednesday night by a 59-11 vote, and the governor general signed it into law yesterday.
Current Canadian federal law forbids anyone from speaking or publishing materials that could bring "incitement of hatred and genocide" against listed groups. By adding "sexual orientation," lawmakers may have created the grounds for prosecuting anyone who criticizes homosexuality.
"This bill is the first step in censorship in Canada against those of faith," said Jim Blake, business chairman of the Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. (CCC) in a press release. "Christians woke up to a country that resembles Russia in the cold war era. Canadians have now been set up to be law breakers for uttering their deeply held religious convictions in a public manner."
"This legislation has terms that remain undefined such as 'sexual orientation' and the word 'hatred' itself," Blake said. "What is sexual orientation? What is hatred? Who will define this? Are we leaving all of this up to un-elected liberal judges to determine?"
Dr. Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition and president of Canada Christian College, said in a press release that "the new law is severely flawed on many counts."
Christian Coalition Inc. of Canada (CCIC) has asked all Canadian Christians to pray for divine intervention for the protection of their religious freedoms, and for citizens to fly their flags at half-mast for three days to mourn the loss of freedom of speech in Canada. Canadian citizens sent more than two million letters, e-mails, and faxes to the Senate to express their opposition to the bill, according to CCIC.
The bill contains a religious exemption in the "hate speech" section of Canada's Criminal Code, but CCIC notes that the exemption places the burden of proof on the defendant and is subject to a variety of interpretations.
"Legal scholars therefore consider the exemption to [be] extremely vague and ill-defined for any adequate legal defense," the CCIC release stated. "The Saskatchewan Court of Queens Bench has already determined the Bible to be hate literature in the Owen case." In that case, a fine was upheld against a Saskatoon newspaper publisher and a man who paid for an ad listing Bible verses about homosexuality.
Sven Robinson, the openly homosexual member of Parliament who sponsored the C-250 measure, was not present for the bill's passage. Robinson was in self-imposed exile after admitting on April 9 that he shoplifted an expensive ring, according to the National Post. A 'gay' Web site reported that he had stolen the ring for his boyfriend. |
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