Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party would vote against the government’s anti-hate bill even after a member of the Conservative Senate caucus helped passed an amendment to criminalize residential school denialism.

When asked by iPolitics on Tuesday about the development, he said the Conservatives oppose Bill C-9 because it’s an “another example of Liberal censorship.”

“We oppose censorship. We believe in freedom of speech. And it’s time for the Liberals to stop going after law-abiding people — whether it’s firearms owners or internet users or other people who follow the law — and start going after real criminals.”

Members of the Senate human rights committee voted nearly unanimously to make the change to Bill C-9 during clause-by-clause review on Monday. The amended bill must still be approved by the Senate, and could undergo additional rewrites on the floor during third reading, and any changes must be approved by the House of Commons before the bill can be signed into law.

Only Sen. Patti LaBoucane-Benson, legislative deputy in the Government Representative’s Office, voted against the measure, citing the need for further consultations with Indigenous leaders.

But all other members of the committee — including Conservative senators — either abstained or supported Nunavut Sen. Nancy Karetak-Lindell’s amendment, which would make it illegal for anyone who in public, “wilfully promotes hatred against Indigenous peoples by condoning, denying, downplaying or justifying the Indian residential school system in Canada or by misrepresenting facts relating to it.”

Conservative Sen. David Wells voted in favour of the amendment, while the other Conservative senator on the committee — Yonah Martin — abstained.

The Conservatives are the only party with a Senate caucus. The other groups in the Senate were all formed in the wake of Justin Trudeau’s independence reforms in 2016, though five senators are part of the Government Representative’s Office, which is responsible for advancing government legislation through the Senate.

Karetak-Lindell said her amendment was needed because of “growing anti-Indigenous racism, violence, and rhetoric surrounding the lasting harm of the Indian residential schools,” warning that the “ongoing spread of denialism and hate is having real impacts on many First Nations communities.”

READ MORE: Fraser opts for wait-and-see approach on potential Senate changes to add residential school denialism to Bill C-9

Critics have warned that such a change risks criminalizing public debate over residential schools, including the location of potential unmarked burial sites.

In 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that it detected over 200 potential burial sites using ground-penetrating radar. However, as the Globe and Mail noted in an editorial over the weekend, no human remains have been uncovered, at least yet.

The First Nation said earlier this year, its investigation is ongoing, though acknowledged it is “more complex” than originally thought.

“We are making progress and will continue adapting our methodologies and information as it advances,” Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc said in a statement in February, as reported by CBC News.

More to come…