Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau blamed the "American right-wing" for Muslim pushback against gender ideology and LGBT curriculums in Canadian public schools.
"First of all, there is an awful lot of misinformation and disinformation out there. People on social media, particularly fueled by the American right-wing, are spreading a lot of untruths about what’s actually in the provincial curriculums," Trudeau said to Muslim parents at a mosque in Calgary, Alberta, last week. Muslim parents have organized two protests at Calgary City Hall in recent months to fight against LGBT indoctrination in public schools, shouting, "Leave our kids alone!" and "Our kids, our choice!"
As in the United States, gender ideology in education has been a hot topic in Canadian politics. A recent amendment to New Brunswick schools' gender policies, which requires teachers to get parental consent to use a student's preferred pronouns, has sparked much criticism from the pro-LGBT left, including Trudeau.
"Trans kids need to feel safe, not targeted by politicians," Trudeau said, after which Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre told Trudeau to "butt out" of New Brunswick politics.
"The prime minister has no business in decisions that should rest with provinces and parents," Poilievre said.
In his remarks to the Calgary Muslim community last week, Trudeau blamed "the far right" for "weaponizing" LGBT ideology in education to drive a wedge between his government and the Muslim community, largely disregarding the community's independent beliefs on the topic.
"These are people on the far right ... weaponizing the issue of LGBT, which is something that, yes, Islam has strong opinions on," Trudeau said. "The same way that the religious right in Canada, the Christian right, has strong opinions against as well. They are using those fears to drive a wedge between a government that will always stand up for all your rights."
One individual responded to his comments: "I ask you, Mr. prime minister, please protect our culture, our belief, the sin that you are doing to them."
"The video shows another example of how Trudeau routinely categorizes views different from his own as the result of right-wing disinformation, as opposed to the genuine views of Canadians who disagree with him," wrote Lorrie Goldstein, editor emeritus of the Toronto Sun.