Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the government’s anti-hate bill remains a top priority even after the Liberals agreed to temporarily pause a committee study of the legislation to focus on changes to sentencing and bail laws.

The Conservatives have spent weeks looking to delay passage of the bill at committee over the government’s support for a Bloc Quebecois amendment removing the religious belief exemption for the hate speech crime.

To end the filibuster, the Tories offered the fast-track the government’s bail and sentencing legislation, describing it as flawed but an improvement over the status quo.

Liberal members on the committee accepted the compromise on Monday, hitting pause on study of the bill and agreeing to spend the next three meetings reviewing the bail and sentencing changes. This would include clause-by-clause review.

Fraser told iPolitics after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the government remains “committed” to the anti-speech bill but was optimistic the deal struck with the Conservatives would allow for swift passage of other priority legislation.

“This is an opportunity for us to advance different priorities for Canadians on the justice file and I’m encouraged by the early signs of collaboration that we witnessed at committee earlier this week,” he said.

“I hope that spirit continues.”

Justice committee agrees to pause study of anti-hate bill in favour of bail law

The Liberals insist that once completing review of the bail and sentencing changes, the committee would return to the study of the anti-hate bill.

But during Monday’s committee meeting, the Conservatives showed no signs of relenting in their opposition to the bill despite raising concerns over how policing agencies have managed anti-Israel demonstrations in Canadian cities.

Jewish groups have called on governments to take action to curb these demonstrations, citing reports of protesters behaving aggressively towards Jewish residents and making chants glorifying violence against Jews.

During last spring’s election campaign, the Liberals vowed to create new penalties to criminalize efforts to harass or obstruct access to places of worship, which ended up forming the core of the anti-hate legislation, known as Bill C-9.

Earlier this month, several Jewish groups made a joint call to urge parliamentarians to quickly pass the bill, as well as create a new offence for the wilful promotion of terrorism.

Fraser said he spoke to faith communities over the holiday break and they “reiterated their strong desire” to see the legislation passed and for the Liberals to make good on their election commitments. 

He said the government has shown the legislation is a “significant priority,” noting that it was one of the first bills introduced after the spring election.

While the justice committee agreed on a time to send the bail and sentencing law back to the House, it’s still unclear how long it will take to complete review of C-9, especially if the Conservatives continue their filibuster.

A spokesperson for Fraser said it wasn’t in a “position to speculate on timelines” until the committee returns to its study of C-9.