Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lectured members of Calgary’s Muslim community concerned about gender ideology in schools, saying “there is an awful lot of misinformation and disinformation” fuelled by “the American right wing.”
Trudeau’s comments come as Muslim communities across the country have joined the fight against progressive gender ideology teachings in Canada’s publicly funded schools.
The Prime Minister was asked about the controversial teachings while attending a Calgary Stampede event at Calgary’s Baitun-Nur Mosque last week. The exchange was caught on video and posted to social media.
“First of all, there is an awful lot of misinformation and disinformation out there,” said Trudeau. “People on social media, particularly fuelled by the American right wing, are spreading a lot of untruths about what’s actually in the provincial curriculum.”
“If you look at the various curriculums, You’ll see that there is not what is being said out there about aggressive teaching or conversion of kids to being LGBT,” claimed Trudeau. According to him, narratives are “being weaponized by people who are not doing it because of their interest in supporting the Muslim community.”
“These are people in the far right who have consistently stood against Muslim rights and the Muslim community, but they’re weaponizing the issue of LGBT, which is something that, yes, Islam has strong opinions on, the same way that the religious right in Canada, the Christian right, has strong opinions against as well.”
The Prime Minister explained that while he understands concerns regarding parental rights, the federal government does not have jurisdiction over education systems. He also said Liberals are “unequivocal about standing up for everyone’s rights.”
Trudeau also suggested that older Muslims are more opposed to the LGBTQ community than younger generations.
“I know your parents’ generation might have a little more uncertainty… and that’s where this generation and your kids’ generation can show that ‘look… the responsibility that comes with being in a free country that stands up for everyone’s rights is that we will stand up for everyone’s rights, including people from the LGBT community.’”
Trudeau also said Muslims should unite with the LGBTQ community because both are facing “increasing levels of violence and hatred.”
“The world is going in the wrong direction, and one thing we don’t need right now is for communities that are facing hatred to start turning on each other, rather than figure out how to support each other, how to listen, how to understand each other and work together.”
The Prime Minister also touched on the case of the Edmonton public school teacher who berated Muslim students for skipping pride activities. Trudeau denounced the teacher’s actions.
“That is not something that is acceptable,” said Trudeau. “It does not represent my position or the federal government’s position, that people need to be chastised for their religious beliefs. People are free to have their religious beliefs.”
Trudeau also took a jab at the Conservatives over Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s policies related to the Niqab and barbaric religious practices. “The Islamophobia pushed by the previous Conservative government in a whole bunch of different ways was something that we all stood against.”
The individual who uploaded the video to TikTok criticized Trudeau’s response to the Muslim community’s concerns.
“We are Muslim parents, and he is careless about us or our feelings as of now. He wants our next generation, he wants to protect the LGBTQ Muslim kids, he wants to protect our kids from us parents.”
“(The) prime minister delivered many soft threats, and he showed his fear of us Canadian groups building bridges with each other because this move will make him lose power and control.”
The Muslim community member also called out Trudeau’s hypocrisy on the issue of provincial jurisdiction.
“(The) prime minister is the same one who got involved in New Brunswick, and now he is saying it is provincial matters.”
Trudeau previously criticized the New Brunswick government’s revised education policy 713, which requires parental consent for a child under the age of 16 to change their name or pronouns at school.
Since the start of June, which is dubbed pride month, Muslim communities across Canada have participated in and led protests against the teaching of gender ideology in schools. Notable protests include ones held in Ottawa and Calgary.
Common chants used by anti-gender ideology protesters include “leave our kids alone” and “let kids be kids.”
