More than 300 people packed a Conservative Party of Canada town hall in Saskatoon for a conversation about religious freedom and how quickly it is being traded away in Ottawa.

The event was hosted by Conservative MPs Andrew Lawton and Kelly Block, along with their colleagues Kevin Waugh and Cory Tochor addressing a packed room of parents, pastors, faith leaders, and concerned citizens. It was not attended by any other media than Rebel News.

The focus of the evening was Bill C-9, legislation speakers warned represents one of the most serious federal intrusions into religious freedom in modern Canadian history.

While the government sells Bill C-9 as a measure to combat “hate,” attendees heard that it goes much further, quietly removing long-standing legal protections for sincerely held, peaceful religious beliefs.

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For decades, Canadian law recognized a crucial distinction: expressing religious belief, even when unpopular or countercultural, was not criminal simply because it offended someone. Bill C-9 dismantles that safeguard.

Under the changes, religious expression is no longer clearly protected if it conflicts with government-approved ideology. Peaceful sermons, scripture-based teaching, and traditional moral instruction can now be swept into expanded hate-speech provision, not because they incite violence, but because someone claims offence or psychological harm.

Lawton stressed this change was not accidental.

The Liberal government added these provisions to Bill C-9 as part of a political bargain with the Bloc Québécois, shoring up parliamentary support to cling to power. In that deal, religious freedom became a bargaining chip.

You don’t protect diversity by punishing belief. You don’t defend democracy by trading away fundamental freedoms to stay in power.

Ottawa has been warned.