A trans- and non-binary advocacy group failed to cancel the annual Reclaiming Canada conference in Victoria, but prompted a $50,000 security cost for organizers.On June 13, 1 Million Voices for Inclusion (1MVFI), a network of advocates for transgender and nonbinary people, spoke to Victoria City Council to demand that We Unify be barred from using the Victoria Conference Centre to “spread transphobia” to host a conference on June 22-23.The press release complained that some of the 22 conference speakers had been “flagged for hate speech against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community” and described them as follows.Lauren Southern, a provocateur banned from multiple countries altogether;Artur Pawlowski, notorious for his opposition to a ban on conversion therapy for homosexuals and protesting a rainbow crosswalk;John Carpay has compared the rainbow flag to the swastika and denounced 2SLGBTQIA+ rights as authoritarianism;Zuby, a vlogger known for performing a stunt mocking transgender people and his professed support of transphobe J.K. Rowling;Drea Humphrey of RebelNews makes a living by glorifying their likes. .Lauren Chen, who accused President Joe Biden of “minimizing” Easter Sunday by drawing attention instead to the transgender day of visibility as the dates overlapped in 2024, has since been taken off the list.1MVFI claims 1,600 people had signed a letter campaign calling on the city to deny use of the conference centre. However, the City of Victoria said the public facility is available to all, as per the Charter.1MVFI insists, “This stance contrasts with its Declaration of Ongoing Solidarity with Gender-Diverse Residents of Victoria, released last October, in which it ‘condemns any and all anti-SOGI mobilizations that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of gender-diverse individuals and their families within our city’ and ‘calls upon community leaders to denounce attacks on transgender and gender-diverse individuals.’”On Monday, 1MVFI issued a subsequent post to its website to complain about We Unify Substack posts it disagreed with. They pointed to a comment by a reader that warned of Victoria “gaystapo” vandalism tactics based on what he had seen in the past. Ironically, 1MVFI seized on such comments to allege such “hateful rhetoric” could “easily turn an angry mob to violence" by conference attendees.On Thursday, 1MVFI announced it would protest at the conference centre as it began Saturday at 9 am.“We allies of queer & transgender people shall stand our ground until We Unify is gone,” the advisory said.“We have called out to allies near and far to mobilize against this brazen display of homophobia and transphobia in the most gender-diverse city in Canada during Pride month and Indigenous Heritage month.”Karla Joy Treadway, a spokesperson for We Unify, told Western Standard the actions by 1MVFI were “really unfortunate.”“They're bullying the event and the speakers. The event has nothing to do with it (transgender ideology). They're very misguided,” Treadway said.“The intention is about not only getting Canadians actively involved in democracy, but it's about censorship and cancel culture and disinformation. So it's really funny that we have a group of people that are trying to cancel and spread disinformation about the censorship and disinformation conference.”.Anticipation grows for the 2024 Reclaiming Canada Conference.As a result of the backlash, We Unify must pay $50,000 for security. In response, the group has set up a crowdfunding page. Treadway said the city insisted on the pricey security charge at the advice of the Victoria Police Department. She believes it’s excessive, given a previous protest organized by 1MFVI at City Hall had only 25 people.“I think most Canadians, gay or straight, right or left, are pretty reasonable people that don't demand these kind of public smearing campaigns and full cancellation things. I think this group ultimately is very small, and they're really just trying to bully the conference.”Lobbying by 1MVFI convinced the Union Club to cancel the conference booking of its facilities for a Friday night banquet. Organizers will host the banquet at an undisclosed facility to prevent cancellation.
A trans- and non-binary advocacy group failed to cancel the annual Reclaiming Canada conference in Victoria, but prompted a $50,000 security cost for organizers.On June 13, 1 Million Voices for Inclusion (1MVFI), a network of advocates for transgender and nonbinary people, spoke to Victoria City Council to demand that We Unify be barred from using the Victoria Conference Centre to “spread transphobia” to host a conference on June 22-23.The press release complained that some of the 22 conference speakers had been “flagged for hate speech against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community” and described them as follows.Lauren Southern, a provocateur banned from multiple countries altogether;Artur Pawlowski, notorious for his opposition to a ban on conversion therapy for homosexuals and protesting a rainbow crosswalk;John Carpay has compared the rainbow flag to the swastika and denounced 2SLGBTQIA+ rights as authoritarianism;Zuby, a vlogger known for performing a stunt mocking transgender people and his professed support of transphobe J.K. Rowling;Drea Humphrey of RebelNews makes a living by glorifying their likes. .Lauren Chen, who accused President Joe Biden of “minimizing” Easter Sunday by drawing attention instead to the transgender day of visibility as the dates overlapped in 2024, has since been taken off the list.1MVFI claims 1,600 people had signed a letter campaign calling on the city to deny use of the conference centre. However, the City of Victoria said the public facility is available to all, as per the Charter.1MVFI insists, “This stance contrasts with its Declaration of Ongoing Solidarity with Gender-Diverse Residents of Victoria, released last October, in which it ‘condemns any and all anti-SOGI mobilizations that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of gender-diverse individuals and their families within our city’ and ‘calls upon community leaders to denounce attacks on transgender and gender-diverse individuals.’”On Monday, 1MVFI issued a subsequent post to its website to complain about We Unify Substack posts it disagreed with. They pointed to a comment by a reader that warned of Victoria “gaystapo” vandalism tactics based on what he had seen in the past. Ironically, 1MVFI seized on such comments to allege such “hateful rhetoric” could “easily turn an angry mob to violence" by conference attendees.On Thursday, 1MVFI announced it would protest at the conference centre as it began Saturday at 9 am.“We allies of queer & transgender people shall stand our ground until We Unify is gone,” the advisory said.“We have called out to allies near and far to mobilize against this brazen display of homophobia and transphobia in the most gender-diverse city in Canada during Pride month and Indigenous Heritage month.”Karla Joy Treadway, a spokesperson for We Unify, told Western Standard the actions by 1MVFI were “really unfortunate.”“They're bullying the event and the speakers. The event has nothing to do with it (transgender ideology). They're very misguided,” Treadway said.“The intention is about not only getting Canadians actively involved in democracy, but it's about censorship and cancel culture and disinformation. So it's really funny that we have a group of people that are trying to cancel and spread disinformation about the censorship and disinformation conference.”.Anticipation grows for the 2024 Reclaiming Canada Conference.As a result of the backlash, We Unify must pay $50,000 for security. In response, the group has set up a crowdfunding page. Treadway said the city insisted on the pricey security charge at the advice of the Victoria Police Department. She believes it’s excessive, given a previous protest organized by 1MFVI at City Hall had only 25 people.“I think most Canadians, gay or straight, right or left, are pretty reasonable people that don't demand these kind of public smearing campaigns and full cancellation things. I think this group ultimately is very small, and they're really just trying to bully the conference.”Lobbying by 1MVFI convinced the Union Club to cancel the conference booking of its facilities for a Friday night banquet. Organizers will host the banquet at an undisclosed facility to prevent cancellation.
