Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd first like to go to you, Ms. Johnstone, because I think you have a lot to contribute to this conversation that we haven't yet heard.
One of the things that has troubled me is that there has been a consistent pattern among the Conservative Party of voting against the rights of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians, whether it was the consistent votes against conversion therapy or running a candidate in the by-election right now in Cloverdale—Langley City who has said that you can “pray the gay away”. There are these types of tropes, these types of ideas that trans people have “mental health disorders”, which is a quote from the Conservative Party convention in 2023. In my view, while people are using their freedom of expression, I think there would be a profoundly negative impact on the LGBT community.
Can you share a little bit from your work of what you have seen when politicians engage in rhetoric like that and put their names on ballots and what message that sends?