MP Jivani’s motion demands defence of religious freedom in Canada

A Conservative MP has submitted a notice of motion to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage aimed at protecting Canada’s religious freedom.

Source: Facebook, Jamil Jivani

A Conservative MP has submitted a notice of motion to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage aimed at protecting Canada’s religious freedom after a Montrealer was charged for hosting a Christian singer without a permit.

“We must protect religious freedom in Canada,” Jamil Jivani, MP for Bowmanville-Oshawa North, said Monday.

His submission was in response to a number of religious attacks in recent years, most recently involving a Christian musician and vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, who had several venues cancel on him due to his beliefs.

A church in Montreal that decided to let him perform got hit with a fine from the city afterwards.

Jivani’s notice of motion seeks to “(a) recognize that protecting the freedom to worship without fear of violence or criminal intimidation is a fundamental part of Canadian heritage; (b) acknowledge that Canadians are right to be disturbed by the attacks on Ministerios Restauración Church in Montreal on July 25, 2025.”

Religious communities in Canada have faced increased intimidation since 2021, with Christian churches being burned down and attacks on Hindu temples, mosques and synagogues.

“More than 100 churches have been burned down or desecrated, Hindu temples targeted by violent protesters, Jewish schools and synagogues targeted by firebombings and shootings, and mosques targeted by assaults and vandalism,” reads the notice of motion.

Jivani also urged the committee to conduct a study on threats Canadians face regarding their freedom to worship.

The Conservative MP is calling on the heritage committee to “recognize that additional legal protections and security measures are required to prevent criminals from targeting religious communities and attacking the freedom to worship in Canada.”

The notice of motion is requesting two meetings on the issue, followed by a report of their findings to be later submitted to the House of Commons.

As many as 118 Christian churches across Canada have been vandalized, burned to the ground, or desecrated without any national inquiry called to address this national crisis.

Jivani launched a campaign in December to address what he described as escalating threats to the rights and freedoms of Christians in Canada.

The national initiative, called “Protect Christians Canada,” centres around a petition urging governments at all levels to take stronger action to defend religious freedoms and Christian communities.

The petition was authored by concerned residents in Ontario’s Durham Region, which Jivani represents in Parliament.

It’s not only Christians who have been subjected to persecution for their beliefs.

Two Montreal Jewish private schools were shot at a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Last summer, a coordinated series of bomb threats that targeted more than 100 Jewish organizations, synagogues, and some hospitals led to dozens of evacuations.

Several Hindu temples have also been vandalized in recent years.