The House justice committee has agreed to hit pause on its study of the controversial anti-hate bill to take up the legislation overhauling sentencing and bail laws as the Conservatives have demanded for weeks.

Members of the committee on Monday passed a motion agreeing to shift focus to C-14 and hold three meetings on the bill, which would include clause-by-clause review.

As per the motion, Justice Minister Sean Fraser would also appear at one of the meetings to discuss the bill.

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer told reporters on Monday that this showed his party was willing to work collaboratively, pushing back against suggestions from the Liberals that they were obstructing the work of the House.

“Conservatives are doing due diligence, but where there is Liberal legislation that at least does no further harm, we are allowing those bills to proceed,” he said.

Over the weekend, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney offering to work collaboratively on shared priorities but saying the Liberals need to match their promises with action.

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said on Monday that Poilievre could prove he was serious about his offer by having his party line up in support of key Liberal bills, including Bill C-14.

The bill, introduced in October, would expand the use of reverse-onus provisions in bail hearings for cases involving violent auto-theft, break and enter, human trafficking and smuggling, assault and sexual assault, and extortion involving violence or violent threats.

In most cases, Crown prosecutors have to convince a judge to continue detaining an accused person while awaiting trial. But for serious crimes like murder and armed robbery, the onus is reversed and the accused has to argue for why they should be released.

The Conservatives have framed it as flawed but an improvement over the status quo, and said the party would support its speedy passage through Parliament.

Conversely, the Conservatives have repeatedly resorted to delay tactics at committee to block review of the government’s anti-hate bill, known as C-9, over an amendment that would remove the religious belief exemption for the crime of enticing hate.

The Liberals have signalled they will support the amendment, which was moved by the Bloc Quebecois, drawing objections from groups concerned about the policing of religious teachings.

Fraser downplayed those concerns and noted in a post on social media that the government could not find a single case where the courts relied on the religious belief exemption to acquit someone of public incitement of hatred.

The Liberals need the support of either the Conservatives or Bloc Quebecois at committees to pass legislation. As it falls below the 12-seat threshold for official party status, the NDP doesn’t have members on committees.

Bill C-9, also known as the Combatting Hate Act would create new Criminal Code offences targeting hate-motivated intimidation and interference with religious and cultural institutions.

At its core, the bill does three main things: it creates new criminal offences related to intimidation and obstruction around certain locations, it codifies a legal definition of hatred, and it introduces new hate-related offences, including one targeting the public display of terrorist or hate symbols.

The bill comes as Jewish groups have called on governments to take action to curb demonstrations in their communities that they say are aimed at intimidating them, citing reports of protesters behaving aggressively towards Jewish residents and making chants glorifying violence against Jews.

The protests have picked up in the wake of the start of the Gaza war in 2023 that followed Hamas’ October 7 terror attack on Israel.

Several Jewish groups banded together earlier this month to urge parliamentarians to quickly pass Bill C-9, as well as creating a new offence for the wilful promotion of terrorism.

It hasn’t been enough to sway the Conservatives despite their repeated criticism over how governments and police forces have responded to these protests.

Conservative justice critic Larry Brock said on Monday police already have the tools at their disposal to stamp out these demonstrations.

Conservative MP Roman Baber also spoke about his frustration seeing masked protestors participating weekly demonstrations in a Jewish community in his Toronto riding, threatening his constituents and enticing violence.

The committee would circle back to C-9 once sending the bail and sentencing bill back to the House.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who sits on the justice committee, framed the agreement on the bills as a “good indication of cooperation.”

“I hope this continues,” he wrote on X.

More to come…