Toronto seems to be the epicentre of the culture wars. On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marched, with his wife and his two eldest children (aged 8 and 9), in Toronto’s Pride Parade. He wore a maple leaf Pride tattoo on his cheek and rainbow socks.
The city is also home to Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and the figurehead of campaigns against a proposed amendment to the Human Rights Act, Bill C-16, which aims to make “gender identity and expression” a prohibited ground of discrimination. Peterson says this could result in prosecutions of people who disagree with some claims about gender – who, for instance, believe that biology determines gender, or who refuse to use “gender-neutral pronouns” like “they” and “zi” as a replacement for “he” and “her”. The bill’s defenders say that it is just a defence for a community which suffers high levels of violence, mental illness and discrimination in areas such as applying for jobs. It is, they say, about securing liberties, not removing them.
