An 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group is planning a rally to protest an event to be held in the Victoria Conference Centre next weekend, which it says features speakers who promote transphobia.
1 Million Voices for Inclusion, which describes itself as an advocacy group in support of the LGBTQ+ community, wants to see the event in the city-owned space cancelled.
The Reclaiming Canada conference, set for June 21 to 23, is hosted by We Unify, a self-described independent and volunteer group that “confronts deep-rooted challenges in democracy while defending against new threats.”
It features 22 people speaking on “reclaiming” health and science, technology and media, democracy and law and the future.
Speakers include Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, reality television’s Dr. Drew Pinsky, who appears on MTV’s Teen Mom, and former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford, who sued the federal government over its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for air travel.
The 1 Million Voices for Inclusion says several planned speakers “have a history of spouting hateful rhetoric that dehumanizes transgender people,” including lawyer John Carpay, who has opposed bans on conversion therapy for people who are gay and transgender; Drea Humphrey, a writer for far-right online social commentary site Rebel News; and British podcaster Zuby, who once claimed to break the women’s world record for weightlifting because he identified as a woman while lifting.
“They’re basically trolls making fun of transgender people,” said Martin Girard, a spokesperson for 1 Million Voices for Inclusion.
Girard said transgender people in Victoria are feeling “outraged and freaked out” by the event.
The rally is planned for Centennial Square Thursday evening ahead of a city council meeting.
City of Victoria spokesperson Colleen Mycroft said the conference centre is a public facility and is open to all groups.
The city’s actions are subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the right to freedom of expression in public places, she said in a statement.
Any government decision to restrict the opportunity for expression must be in compliance with the Charter, Mycroft said.
We Unify declined an interview request Wednesday, but sent a news release that says there has been “an overwhelming amount of support and excitement for this event and we are looking forward to helping you get all the facts about this event to avoid spreading disinformation (which is what the whole conference is about).”
The group said in its statement that it agrees with the city’s characterization of the application of the Charter.
“We can assure the city that our conference, speakers and intent is to bring people together through respectful dialogue,” the statement says.
The group says it is advocating for a “new Congress of Citizens to reimagine nations” and seeks to heal polarizing divides.
After backlash last fall to an event planned in Port Alberni by a similar group called Action4Canada, city councillors decided the group’s events should not be permitted to be held in city facilities.
The city made the decision after Tseshaht First Nation said the planned speaker, Tanya Gaw, who has called truth and reconciliation a “charade” and “witch hunt,” is not welcome in their territory.
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