Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus 

The federal Tories are accusing the Trudeau government of playing politics by stripping specific references to specific religious groups from its annual report on terrorism.

Conservative public-safety critic Pierre Paul-Hus suggested to the House of Commons national-security committee Monday that the Liberals bowed to "pressure tactics" simply to avoid offending anyone.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government removed the terms "Sikh," "Sunni" and "Shia" from the report when referring to extremism to avoid conveying the impression that an entire religion or community is a threat to national security.

He told the committee it was not a partisan issue but rather an effort to be accurate, precise and fair in conveying information about terrorist threats.

"Canadians of all faiths and backgrounds have helped to build our country and continue to be integral members of our communities and neighbourhoods," Goodale said.

"It is neither accurate nor fair to equate any one community or an entire religion to extremist violence or terror. To do so is simply wrong and inaccurate."

Brampton, Ont., Liberal MP Ruby Sahota told the committee she had raised the wording issue with Goodale several times, saying people expressed concerns to her about the religious references in the report.

Paul-Hus accused the Liberals of altering accurate information in response to pressure.

"Everyone understands that we're speaking of extremists, it's not everyone who's involved," the Quebec City MP said.

"To what extent should politics enter into play just to avoid insulting anyone?"

Following the December publication of the 2018 report, the government heard several strong objections — particularly from the Sikh and Muslim communities in Canada — that the language was not "sufficiently precise," Goodale acknowledged.

They saw the report as impugning entire religions instead of properly zeroing in on the dangerous actions of a small number of people, even though such language had appeared in previous government and parliamentary publications, he said.