Thank you.
Mr. Ripley, I would like you to provide me with details on how things work on the ground.
Right now, when the police deal with a case of incitement to hatred, for example, whether it be an anti-Semitic statement or something else, they approach the Crown prosecutor and ask whether they can prosecute the individual in question. The prosecutor considers all of that, takes a number of factors into account and decides whether there is a case to prosecute, depending on whether or not there is an effective defence or something like that.
In your opinion, in the case of an anti-Semitic crime or hate crime, can the religious exemption defence currently mentioned in subsection 319(1) of the Criminal Code play a role in the decision to prosecute or not?