By Patrick B. Craine
July 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – REAL Women of Canada's National President, Cecilia Forsyth, released a letter earlier this week addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, Diane Ablonczy, in which she protests the Conservatives nearly $400,000 grant to the Toronto Gay Pride Festival. At the same time the National Post has revealed a lengthy history of Conservative funding of homosexual events and causes, stirring up further controversy.
The $400,000 grant, given in person by Minister Ablonczy on June 15th as part of the Marquee Tourism Events Program, has been harshly criticized by pro-family advocates and members of the Tory caucus. Saskatoon MP Brad Trost expressed his disapproval in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com on July 6th, and said that many Conservative MPs were unaware of the grant.
The grant has been the subject of media controversy in the last week after it was announced that, in the wake of her decision to fund Toronto Pride, Minister Ablonczy had lost the tourism funding file, although the government claims there is no official connection.
“REAL Women of Canada is deeply offended” over the grant, states the letter. In light of the CTV report that the grant “will make sure that [Toronto Pride] continue[s] to be competitive on the world stage,” Forsyth asks, “Why does your government regard this as significant?”
“The Gay Pride Parade is well known for its full nudity, open engagement in public sexual acts and its deliberate disregard of behaviour acceptable to most sectors of Canadian society,” she says. “The parade is about hedonistic exhibitionism and narcissism, promoting a deadly form of sexuality. The parade is designed to shock and titillate and the week-long 'celebration' has become an excuse for partying, drug use and promiscuity.”
In announcing the grant, Minister Ablonczy cited the economic benefits of supporting the event, but Forsyth contends that the attendance and financial figures are greatly inflated. She says, “To argue that this grant has an economic and tourism benefit is to naively accept the homosexual propaganda that over a million individuals actually attend the event.”
She argues that the attendance figure is absurd from a purely mathematical point of view, due to the limited size of the parade route. “The crowds would have had to be 80 deep along the 3.1 kilometer parade route,” she says. “It is also highly questionable that the 'celebrations' that week contribute millions to the economy, as alleged, as this figure again appears to be part of the air of unreality surrounding the event.”
She also questions the long-term economic benefits of supporting the promotion of homosexuality, as have other pro-family advocates. “There can be no long-term stimulus by giving taxpayers' money to homosexual groups,” she says. “Such individuals do not make a substantive contribution to society by producing and raising children – essential for the future of our country. Instead, their high medical and social costs are not a public benefit. Canadian families are struggling in these difficult economic times, and a grant of this magnitude, to promote a hedonistic lifestyle, serves only to devalue their struggle.”
Forsyth concludes, “The Conservative government's decision to contribute to the promotion and marketing of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade condones the homosexual life style.”
“It is an indication of your government's abandonment of your political base,” she says. “A low voter turnout in federal elections is already a concern, and this grant will only serve to exacerbate this problem for the Conservative government.”
Toronto Pride appears not to have been the first homosexual initiative funded by Harper's Conservative government, however. REAL Women's letter was released in the wake of a July 9th editorial by The National Post's David Akin, showing the Harper government's long history of funding the homosexual agenda by outlining numerous homosexual initiatives that they have funded since taking over in 2006. LSN has confirmed the following list from the relevant government websites.
Recipient: Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Minister: Hon. James Moore
Funding received: $175,000.00
Purpose: Arts in Communities
Date: 2009-03-26
Recipient: Vancouver Out on Screen Film and Video Society
Minister: Hon. Josée Verner
Funding received: $32,000.00
Purpose: Project: 20th Anniversary Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009, March 4, 2008
Recipient: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Pride Toronto
Funding received: $21,000.00
Date: ** Last modified, 2008-02-19
Recipient: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, and Transgenderal Pride Toronto
Minister: Hon. Josée Verner
Funding received: $35,000.00
Purpose: Arts in Community
Date: 2007-04-23
Recipient: Inside Out Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Inc.
Funding received: $20,000.00
Purpose: Project: Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
Recipient: Winnipeg Gay & Lesbian Film Society Inc, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Funding received: 4,000.00
Purpose: Project: Reel Pride Film Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
Recipient: Reelout Arts Project Inc., Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Funding received: $7,000.00
Purpose: Project: Reelout Queer Film & Video Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
Recipient: Queer City Cinema Inc, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Funding received: $13,000.00
Purpose: Project: Queer City Cinema 7, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
Recipient: Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Inc.
Funding received: $26,000.00
Date: 2008-2009 Last modified, 2008-02-19
Recipient: Darren McAllister, Ontario, Canada
Minister: Hon. Peter MacKay
Funding received – $550.00
Purpose: To allow Darren McAllister to present his short film “Confessions of a Drag Queen” at the Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Los Angeles, California from July 6 to 17, 2006.
Date: 2006- 2007
Recipient : Michael Mew, British Columbia, Canada
Minister: Hon. Peter MacKay
Funding received: $900
Purpose: To allow Michael Mew to present his short film “Peking Turkey” at the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in London, United Kingdom from March 28 to April 6, 2007.
Date:2006-2007
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canada's Federal “Conservatives” Give $400K to Toronto Gay Pride Week
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09061817.html
Canadian Conservative MP: Party Funding of Gay Pride Parade Came as a Shock to Most of Caucus
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09070615.html