Canada’s intelligence agency is warning that extremists could “inspire and encourage” serious violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community — a threat the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says almost certainly will continue over the coming year.
CSIS’s comments come as provincial policies on gender-affirming surgeries and pronoun preferences are being hotly debated across the country.
“CSIS assesses that the violent threat posed by the anti-gender movement is almost certain to continue over the coming year and that violent actors may be inspired by the University of Waterloo attack to carry out their own extreme violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community or against other targets they view as representing the gender ideology ‘agenda,'” said CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam in an email to CBC News.
A former University of Waterloo student accused of attacking a gender-studies class with a knife last summer — sending an associate professor and two students to hospital — now faces 11 terrorism charges.
Balsam said that while violent rhetoric does not always lead to violence, “the ecosystem of violent rhetoric within the anti-gender movement, compounded with other extreme worldviews, can lead to serious violence.”
“CSIS assesses that exposure to groups and individuals espousing anti-gender extremist rhetoric could inspire and encourage serious violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community, or against those who are viewed as supporters of pro-gender ideology policies and events,” he said.
Balsam was commenting on a document drafted by the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC) and obtained by CBC News through an access to information request.
ITAC, made up of intelligence authorities, is set up to keep tabs on threat actors’ intentions and capabilities and to review classified and open-source information to estimate the likelihood of a terrorist attack in Canada.
According to the document, the centre was monitoring the potential for an attack or violent assaults at Pride celebrations, parades and nightclubs across the country last summer. Sections of the document have been redacted.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford poses for photos as he attends the York Pride Parade in Newmarket, Ont., on Saturday June 17, 2023. CSIS warns that ‘anti-2SLGBTQl+ narratives remain a common theme in violent rhetoric’ online. (The Canadian Press)
“Trans and drag communities in Canada have been the target of several online threats and real-world intimidation tactics in recent months,” says the document.
“Anti-2SLGBTQl+ narratives remain a common theme in violent rhetoric espoused by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Freedom Movement, and networks such as Diagolon and QAnon.”
ITAC went on to say that those who embrace religiously-motivated violent extremism in Canada continue “to view members of the 2SLGBTQl community as desirable targets.”
Pride group calls document ‘disheartening’
Alessandro Iachelli, executive director of Fierté Canada Pride, said the warnings are “disheartening” but not surprising. The group acts as the national association of Canadian Pride organizations.
“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t open my computer screen or my television to see something that attacks our community,” he said.
He said he fears Canada will see a targeted attack like the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 more.
“If anybody thinks that that’s not going to happen in Canada, they better wake up,” he said.
Iachelli said he worries the recent introduction of provincial policies on gender-affirming care and preferred pronouns will only heighten the risk for 2SLGBTQI+ people.
“It’s on their plates, if anything happens to those people,” said Iachelli.
An emotional debate in Alberta
CSIS did not comment specifically on any of the fallout from recent provincial policies or proposals over the last year.
The issue most recently reared its head in Alberta, where Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to implement a suite of policies affecting transgender and non-binary youth and adults.
Those policies include a ban on hormone therapy, such as the use of puberty blockers, for those aged 15 and younger and a requirement that parents give their consent before students aged 15 and under can change their names or pronouns at school.
The Alberta government’s proposal also would forbid transgender women from competing in women’s sports leagues. Smith said the government will work with leagues to set up co-ed or gender-neutral divisions for sports.
WATCH | Danielle Smith defends proposed limits to gender-affirming care
Danielle Smith defends proposed limits to gender-affirming care
15 days ago
Duration 2:47
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defends her government’s proposed limits to gender-affirming care for youth while expressing support for adults who want to transition to another gender. She says legislation to enact the changes will be tabled in the fall.
The Alberta government’s proposals have ignited passionate debate.
Smith said she hopes to “de-politicize” the issue and focus on children’s well-being. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suggested Smith’s proposals will aggravate mental health issues and suicidal ideation among young people struggling with gender dysphoria.
Advocates for transgender youth have threatened legal action, while the head of the Alberta-based Parents for Choice in Education group called the announcement “reasonable” but said the organization wants to see Smith go further.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also weighed in, accusing Trudeau and the media of demonizing Smith and parents.
CSIS Director David Vigneault raised his concerns about violence directed at the 2SLGBTQI+ community in a public address late last year. He said the agency is alarmed when rhetoric turns hateful.
“We’re concerned about the sharp uptick in hate crimes across Canada, and the marked increase in terrorist and violent extremist threats and rhetoric from extremist actors, many of whom are consuming toxic media online, becoming radicalized, and may mobilize quickly to violence,” Vigneault told an audience at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
“We are concerned about hate-fuelled marches colliding with Pride celebrations.”
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
