Liberal MPs on the House justice committee backed a Bloc Québécois proposal to remove a religious exemption from Canada’s hate speech laws — after the suggestion initially appeared to halt the government’s anti-hate legislation.

The Criminal Code currently includes an exemption for hate speech, “if, in good faith, the person 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.”

On Tuesday evening, the justice committee added a Bloc amendment to the Liberals’ Bill C-9 — dubbed the Combatting Hate Act — that would remove the religious exemption.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters last week that his party struck a deal with the Liberals to add the amendment in exchange for support for C-9. The deal was first reported by the National Post.