At a time of strained relations between Canada and the United States, one American politician has travelled north out of neighbourly concern over the treatment of Christians in Canada.

Oklahoma State Senator Shane Jett is in Ottawa Monday after sending a letter to Canadian MPs warning about what he describes as an erosion of religious liberty and freedom of expression.

“I am writing to express deep concern over the direction of religious liberty and free expression in Canada,” Jett wrote in the October 2 letter.

Unlike the vast majority of Canada's political leaders, who have had relatively little to say about what appears to be a growing pattern of hostility toward Christians, Jett isn't dismissing the warning signs. And there have been many.

Since 2021, at least 130 churches have been burned or vandalized across Canada. Not every fire has been determined to be arson or religiously motivated, but the sheer number of attacks and incidents involving Christian places of worship has raised serious concerns.

That destruction has unfolded alongside other controversies involving Christian expression.

Only Christian pastors were arrested, fined and, in some cases, jailed for defying COVID-era restrictions on worship despite not being the only religious group “illegally worshipping.”

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For years, street preachers have repeatedly been arrested or dragged through the courts for boldly preaching the gospel. Christian medical professionals and institutions have faced conscience battles over Canadians radical euthanasia program and assisted suicide through the Medical Assistance in Dying program.

American Christian singer Sean Feucht saw public worship events cancelled or denied permits in across the country for his conservative and Christian views despite peacefully performing in the country for years.

Then came Bill C-9.

The Combatting Hate Act became law this summer, removing the Criminal Code's specific defence for good-faith expression of an opinion on a religious subject or based on a religious text.

That became even more concerning after Heritage Minister Marc Miller pointed to passages in Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Romans while discussing biblical passages and hatred toward homosexuals.

Jett addressed that controversy directly.

“When a minister of the Crown can cite Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Romans as passages that ought not to enjoy a religious defense, people of faith reasonably conclude that the Bible itself is being placed under suspicion,” he wrote.

“A free country does not require its pastors to edit the Gospel to satisfy the state.”

And Jett isn't the first American politician to notice.

In 2021, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley called on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to consider adding Canada to its watch list after pastors were arrested and churches faced enforcement actions during COVID restrictions.

“Frankly, I would expect this sort of religious crackdown in Communist China, not in a prominent Western nation like Canada,” Hawley wrote at the time. Five years later, another American politician has travelled directly to Canada's capital to raise similar concerns.

Jett will join former federal cabinet minister Stockwell Day, former MP Derek Sloan, Rev. Dr. Devin Seghers and activist Billboard Chris Elstooon on Monday evening at Ottawa's Capital City Bikers' Church for an event asking the blunt question: “Are Canadian Christians Safe?”

Filmmakers behind the upcoming documentary Don't Talk About That, which examines concerns surrounding religious freedom and Christian persecution, are also expected to be present.