One speaker at the Ottawa event told the small crowd, "We should never base our success on numbers.”
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Source: Canadian Free Living/YouTube
A nationwide march aimed at eliminating educational programs teaching children the facts about gender identity and sexual health is underway. By early afternoon on Friday, attendance at the nation’s capital—the home city of Kamel El-Cheik, one of the most prominent national organizers—failed to achieve anywhere close to the crowds they drew last year.
Last year’s “1 Million March 4 Children” saw numerous networks, groups, and individuals come together in protests against 2SLGBTQ+ representation in schools across Canada. The demonstrations took place outside schools, government buildings, libraries, and school boards.
The anti-2SLGBTQ+ protest grew out of the self-proclaimed “parental rights” movement, and organizing against sexual health and gender identity (SOGI) and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive education policies across Canada.
Hands Off Our Kids, El-Cheik’s organization which served as the largest national organizer for this year’s events, listed around 40 protests scheduled for Friday.
El-Cheik said repeatedly in the leadup to the protests that he expected a turnout of two million people across Canada.
In an early livestream to Facebook, El-Cheik spoke to Ottawa protest mainstay and live streamer Chris Dacey about the low turnout, which he blamed on censorship.
“Sometimes it's the quality, not the quantity,” Dacey replied.
A shot of the crowd from a livestream. Source: Canadian Free Living/YouTube
“There's some of the paid demonstrators, CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees). There’s more of them (counter protesters) than there are of us, but it’s not authentic right?,” Jeff Evely of Veterans4Freedom (V4F) said in a brief livestream to Facebook.
V4F is a conspiratorial organization that formed after the 2022 convoy and is made up of former members of the Canadian military.
Addressing the crowd during speeches before the march, far-right content creator Greg Wycliffe said, “You know, a lot of people can feel very demoralized these days that not enough people came out today. But you know, sometimes, maybe we have to take a page out of the book of our political enemies: I personally identify as ten thousand people. So I think this entire group right here identifies as a million people.”
The Ottawa protest only drew around 100 anti-2SLGBTQ+ activists.
The anti-LGBTQ+ “One Million March for Children” on Parliament Hill missed its target by between 999,975 or 999,950 people or so pic.twitter.com/ZtNErIIn8r
— Luke LeBrun (@_llebrun) September 20, 2024
Far from the only person to comment on the turnout, Aylmer, Ontario-based Pastor Henry Hildebrandt told the crowd during his speech, “Let me tell you first of all, that we should never, never base our results or our success on numbers.”
Hilderbrandt and his congregation have received media attention for their intense rejection of pandemic health restrictions. Twenty years ago Hildebrandt fought the Children’s Aid Society in court to maintain the right to strike his children and counsel his congregants to carry out similar discipline in their families.
People watching the livestreams from home also noted the lack of a crowd. “To be honest this doesn’t look like many people are joining in,” one commenter said.
Students for Queer Liberation posted to Instagram that only seven to eight anti-2SLGBTQ+ protesters had shown up in Toronto. The anti-2SLGBTQ+ protests were scheduled to begin at 8 am in each cities’ respective time zone.
Dan Dicks, a far-right content creator from Vancouver, said on his stream that “there are more counter-protesters than there are actually protesters.”
On Facebook, a protester posted that “very few people showed up” to the Winnipeg event.
“There was not much organization and a bit of confusion on time and start and location.”
The $44 million lawsuit against the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, the government, and banks failed to show any evidence of CAHN involvement in a (non-existent) wide-ranging conspiracy.
Bubba Pollock is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of criminal harassment against a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, after he taunted her with photos he took of her sleeping father in a hospital room.
