From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The report claimed that holidays such as Christmas and Easter are forms of discrimination and religious intolerance and observing the birth of Jesus Christ is ‘an obvious example’ of a type of religious bias that is rooted in colonialism

Canadian MPs roundly condemned a report from the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) arguing that Christmas was racist. 

On November 29, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet challenged the CHRC report which claimed that those who celebrate Christmas are exhibiting intolerance and perpetuating so-called “settler colonialism” and forced even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to admit that the holiday is not racist.   

“Just because you laugh doesn’t mean it’s funny,” Blanchet told the House of Commons. “According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission the simple celebration of Christmas – the tree, the family, the music, the gifts – is systemic racism. I wonder if good old Santa Claus is racist. I wonder if snow has become racist.” 

Blanchet pressed Trudeau to explain the document, saying, “Is Christmas racist?” 

“Obviously Christmas is not racist,” Trudeau responded.   

“I am welcoming a few dozen Québecers from immigrant backgrounds to celebrate Christmas in my riding in a few days,” Blanchet continued. “Should I cancel because, according to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, celebrating Christmas is racist? That is the question I am asking.”  

“No,” Trudeau replied. “We have to celebrate everything, Christmas, Hanukkah, all the different festivals.”  

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre also joined in the discussion, saying, “Allow me to be the first of the season to wish everybody a merry Christmas. We love our great Canadian traditions including Christmas.” 

As LifeSiteNews previously reported, on October 23, 2023, the CHRC published “Discussion Paper On Religious Intolerance.” It characterized the celebration of holidays such as Christmas and Easter as forms of discrimination and religious intolerance.   

The CHRC said that observing the birth of Jesus Christ is “an obvious example” of a type of religious bias that is rooted in colonialism.  

“Discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism,” reads the Commission’s paper.    

Despite the mainstream push to switch to the term “Happy Holidays” in lieu of “Merry Christmas,” a Leger poll from December 2022 found that the overwhelming majority of non-Christian Canadians are content with being greeted by the words “Merry Christmas” during the season of Advent.   

When the non-Christians were asked if they were “Offended when people greet me with ‘Merry Christmas’,” 92 percent said no, with only eight percent reporting they felt offended.   

The CHRC is an independent federal institution created in 1977 that oversees holding up Canada’s human rights laws.  

The CHRC claims that the history of holidays “manifests itself in present day systemic religious discrimination. An obvious example is statutory holidays in Canada.”  

“Statutory holidays related to Christianity including Christmas and Easter are the only Canadian statutory holidays linked to religious holy days,” it said.  

“As a result non-Christians may need to request special accommodation to observe their holy days.”  

The European settlers who came to Canada, from France and then later from what is the modern-day United Kingdom, were Christian and included missionaries who came to try to spread the faith to the local indigenous populations.    

Canada has observed Christmas since 1641, well before its official founding, according to some historical records. Despite this, the CHRC said that the nation’s “history with religious intolerance is deeply rooted in our identity as a settler colonial state.”  

In 2021, a federal court directive mandated that all references to Christmas holidays be removed from all court calendars, however, this directive did not come from a complaint but instead was an internal decision.