Wants federal bill pulled

Open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney

I'm writing from the Kelowna riding in, B.C., represented by (Liberal M.P.) Stephen Fuhr.

I am very concerned with many aspects of Bill C-9, especially in light of the proposed amendment to remove protections for sincerely held beliefs.

I understand the Bill is going back to the Justice Committee for further discussion (this week), after being pulled from the agenda earlier.

I completely understand the need and desire to bring back more civil speech and bring accountability for the volatile spouting off people seem to do more and more these days, and to be specific in criminalizing threats that are uttered verbally or in print (online or otherwise).

That being said, I believe there are already laws in place which can be brought to bear on those issues.

When I read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms statement around Bill C-9, the justice minister’s own examination of the legal ramifications of the Bill, I found it highlighted my concerns exactly—Bill C-9 as it stands currently will significantly impact our charter-protected rights around freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly (Section 2 of the charter, parts a, b and c, and even our right to liberty (Section 7) if that liberty is removed without following the principles of fundamental justice.

There are other potential impacts as well. These rights are supposed to be protected by charter. The bill threatens those rights and as such should not be allowed to pass.

Please ask the justice minister to pull the bill in its entirety. At the very least, ask him to reverse the amendment that would remove protection for sincerely held beliefs.

Malcolm Petch, Kelowna