From LifeSiteNews

By AnthonyvMurdoch

Citing Christmas as an ‘obvious example,’ the Canadian Human Rights Commission characterized celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ as ‘discrimination’ rooted ‘in Canada’s history of colonialism.’

The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) is being slammed for suggesting that those who celebrate Christian holidays, including Christmas, are exhibiting intolerance and perpetuating so-called “settler colonialism.”  

According to a recent document the CHRC published on October 23, 2023, titled “Discussion Paper On Religious Intolerance,” holidays such as Christmas and Easter are 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.  

The CHRC was immediately blasted by Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MPs and others for being “ridiculous” and “woke.”

“This is ridiculous,” wrote CPC MP Jeremy Patzer on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday in response to the Commission’s paper. 

This is ridiculous. Christmas is celebrated all around the world by people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This is another example of woke ideology fomenting within the federal government. I for one will be celebrating Christmas whole heartedly. Merry Christmas!🎄 https://t.co/9EtpLuWvRG

— Jeremy Patzer (@JeremyPatzerMP) November 21, 2023

“Christmas is celebrated all around the world by people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This is another example of woke ideology fomenting within the federal government. I for one will be celebrating Christmas whole heartedly. Merry Christmas!”  

One concerned Canadian said that the CHRC itself is engaging in discrimination for “attacking” Christians’ right to celebrate the birth of Christ, a right Canada has upheld since its founding.

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 said they disagreed with only 8 percent agreeing.  

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 that 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 and 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.