The demonstrations, under the banner “1 Million March 4 Children,” advocated for the elimination of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculums in Canada.
Gender identity in the education sector has frequented headlines in recent months, since Saskatchewan and New Brunswick adopted gender and pronoun policies that require parental consent for students under the age of 16 who want to change their given names and/or pronouns at school.
“If you showed up for Pride this year, it’s really time to show up for the community the rest of the year as well. Pride is every day,” Poole said.
WHO IS PROTESTING?
There are two “brands” that promoted protests across Canada on Wednesday, Hands Off Our Kids and Family Freedom, Canadian Anti-Hate Network Executive Director Evan Balgord explained. The groups did not respond to requests for comment.
Balgord said one of the groups is religious and openly intolerant of the LGBTQ2S+ community while the other is more secular and appears to be more inclusive. Fundamentally, both are advocating for SOGI to be stripped from the curriculum by hiding behind the illusion that they are just trying to protect children, Balgord noted.
“The concern is that when you let these people organize unopposed, they gain more power,” Balgord said.
To support LGBTQ2S+ communities, counter-protests were planned in every province across the country. Several took place in Toronto, with more spanning Ontario in Kingston, Kitchener, London, Ottawa, Peterborough, Sarnia, Sudbury and Windsor
“I think from the teacher’s side, it’s fair to say there is some frustration and anger about how what we do to support students in schools is being twisted and misconstrued to be something it isn’t,” Jamie Mitchell, an Ontario high school math teacher, said.
“To see initiatives that would take us backwards, good teachers know that would be harmful for students and families.”
“From the earliest Pride parades, through the AIDS crisis, winning same-sex marriage, and much more. I continue to stand with you today in the face of hate,” Chow said on Wednesday.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) said it “unequivocally” stands with trans, Two-Spirit and non-binary students, staff and families. “We support everyone’s human rights and expression of gender,” the TDSB said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
The education minister released a message on Wednesday morning stating the government’s commitment to the safety and well-being of all children in Ontario schools, “irrespective of your faith, heritage, sexual orientation, or color of skin.”
Toronto, Durham and Burlington police forces monitored the demonstrations on Wednesday, keeping the peace and enforcing applicable laws.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) condemned the protests and said it is “alarming” that several politicians have contributed to this “disturbing” discourse.
“Instead of spewing rhetoric they know is harmful and dangerous and that pits parents against educators, they should be ensuring safe and inclusive spaces for every student in the province,” the ETFO said in a statement on Tuesday.
To visibly show support, the Pride flag will be raised all week at TDSB and Durham District School Board institutions.
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.
