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TERRACE, B.C., May 28, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Concerned by the passage of the amendment to the Canadian hate crimes Bill C-250, which added “sexual orientation” to the legislation, Mike Brousseau, father of 12 children and a roofing contractor from Terrace, B.C., has decided to do something about it. Brousseau is convinced that NDP MP Svend Robinson’s controversial bill will lead to a deterioration in freedom of speech and freedom of religion in Canada. He and his family have decided to take the message across Canada—starting June 1.

Brousseau and family have organized a peaceful demonstration for June 1 at five p.m. in Prince Rupert, beginning at the ferry terminal “mile zero of highway 16,” Canada’s most westerly point. From the terminal they will march to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) building where they will ask CBC officials why they have made no mention of the controversial bill in any media coverage. Participants are welcome to join the demonstration. Signs with the slogan, Truth, Trust, Family, Love, will be carried in a silent march to protest the new legislation.  From Prince Rupert Brousseau and his family will continue by motor home—also decorated with the slogan, Truth, Trust, Family, Love—to arrive in Terrace, B.C., on June 2, Smithers, B.C., on June 3, Prince George, B.C., on June 4, and then on to Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, and so on across Canada to Ottawa. He plans to be in Ottawa on June 17, to voice his concerns personally to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Brousseau, a Shantyman missionary, had tried repeatedly to bring attention to the bill. He told LifeSiteNews.com about his disheartening attempts to get the CBC or the Globe and Mail interested in the issue. After numerous attempts and little interest, he landed on the plan to cross the nation with his message. Brousseau described the work of Shantyman missionaries as “those who go places where others don’t want to go,” to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ. Brousseau emphasized that his message is not against homosexuals: “I roofed most of their houses here in Terrace,” he said, “and I love them—I love people—but I hate sin.” He reaffirmed that he is “not attacking homosexuals, I’m attacking the bill.”

Shantymen missionaries historically went to logging and mining camps to bring their gospel message. Brousseau described his own experience of knocking on doors in Native communities in B.C. His mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, were missionaries in the Canadian Arctic.

Brousseau hopes to have a web-site running to log support from people as he crosses the nation; he hopes to print the names of supporters to present to Prime Minister Martin in Ottawa.  For more information, or to lend support to Mike Brousseau and his family, visit:  https://shantymen.org/