In the capital city, crowds of protesters and counter-protesters, believed to be in the hundreds on each side, yelled and chanted at each other from across Wellington Street, a large demonstration opposed to teaching LGBTQ2S+ issues in schools took over Parliament Hill.
Yes, we have video! Maxime Bernier, erstwhile leader of the People's Party of Canada (Yes, he and they are still fighting the good fight!) answers the headline question.
You'd think the answer would be obvious, but "Mad Max" is the only leader of a Canadian political party with the intestinal fortitude to say it out loud!
The stated goal of the protesters is to make schools -- Canadian school boards, particularly the Toronto District School Board, are notoriously "woke" -- stop teaching children about gay, lesbian and trans people, which the protesters claim runs counter to their rights as parents to control their children's moral and social upbringing.
Protesters held signs with slogans that included "leave the kids alone" and "pride comes before destruction". Some people at the protest called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, as the ever-popular "Fuck Trudeau" flags, first seen during the Freedom Convoy, fluttered in the wind.
The protesters complained about "intrusive elements of sexual orientation and gender ideology" (read: pro-queer agenda) in the school system. They said they don't hate the LGBTQ2S+ community, but they oppose the school systems promoting queer issues in ways that they believe go against the values and beliefs they want to raise their children with.
The march comes on the heels of months of cultural battles in Canada as well as the US of A over "gay rights", particularly involving transgender people and "gender-affirming care" -- e.g. body mutilation -- for minors.
Besides cutting off various appendages, "medical interventions" can include puberty blockers, and hormone treatments. Other parts of "gender-affirming care" (read: grooming!) can include accepting the use of a different name or preferred pronouns or dressing as the preferred gender, which we used to call "transvestism" (a psychological abnormality or perversion) or simply "cross-dressing".
The governments of the provinces of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have tabled legislation that would require that educators obtain parental consent if a child wishes to use a different name at school or be addressed by different pronouns. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce have discussed similar ideas but, so far, no legislation has been announced in Ontario.
The issue has also raised its bewigged head in federal politics. At the recent Conservative Party of Canada convention, delegates voted in favour of a future Conservative government prohibiting "life-altering" medical and surgical interventions for "gender-diverse and transgender people" under the age of 18. But the new Tory leader, Pierre Poilievre, said that delegates can vote as they like, but he's the leader and willl go along with the liberals if that's what it takes to get elected.
Canadians should hope that, as Max Bernier said, common sense will prevail. But don't count on it.
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