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.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
