What we've seen is a growing tide of hate and violence. A lot of it is motivated initially online, but it spills over into the real world and has real impacts on people's lives and their ability to both feel safe and participate fully in Canadian society.
This motion does not call for specific actions by Parliament. Rather, it's a motion to urge all of us to speak in favour of equality and inclusion when it comes to my community.
We've seen events ranging from the disruption of school board meetings to the disruption of children's sporting days by those who have some preconceived idea of what children of a certain gender should look like to actual hate attacks in my own community, where pride flags were torn down from a house, thrown up against the house and set on fire. We're seeing an explosion of these kinds of things. Again, I think much of it starts online, but it has real impacts in our communities and on feelings of safety, which my community doesn't share with everybody else. They're not feeling able to participate in the community at the same level as other people.
I could spend a lot of time talking about it. I don't think the actions I'm asking for are particularly controversial. Given the actions of some of the provinces, including Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta, I think it's time for all of us to say that public policy should be based on science and reality and not be based on misinformation and hatred. Just this week, we saw examples of the Premier of Alberta basing a policy about kids who need access to gender-affirming health care on myth and legend, I would say, rather than on reality and on the advice of medical professionals.
This is an attempt to have all of us speak for calm when it comes to these issues and for basing our decisions on science and good public policy, reassuring everyone in Canada that we are a diverse and inclusive society where everyone can participate equally.
Thank you.