News
Featured Image
Toronto City Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam during a March 9, 2021 press conference.Kristyn Wong-Tam / Youtube screen grab

LifeSiteNews has been permanently banned on YouTube. Click HERE to sign up to receive emails when we add to our video library.

TORONTO, Canada, March 9, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – A pro-LGBT Toronto city councilor who champions herself as a “human rights activist” publicly accused a Catholic dad of calling for the death of LGBT allies during a speech that the dad made at a Catholic school board meeting last week.

Kristyn Wong-Tam, City Councillor for Ward 13-Toronto Centre, tweeted on March 5 that a Catholic father had called for LGBT allies to be “killed by drowning” in a presentation that the dad had made to the board the day before.

Jody Maillet, a part-time university instructor, told the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s (TCDSB) March 4 meeting that he was “concerned” about a proposal to “recognize or celebrate gay pride month and fly the gay pride flag over our Toronto schools.”

“I oppose this, and I ask that you do as well,” said Maillet at the regular meeting of the “Student Achievement and Well-Being Catholic Education Human Resources” committee.

“The reason why is simple: Because gay pride is not compatible with the Catholic faith. You have a spiritual and moral duty to ensure a compassionate, caring, and loving Catholic environment at our schools,” the father, who has two children attending a TCDSB school, said.

Maillet went on to quote what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses this with three simple paragraphs. Paragraph 2358 says that we must accept the person with ‘respect, compassion, and sensitivity,’” he said.

“This is true of course. I’ve seen this section used by lobbyists without quoting its sister paragraphs, 2357 and 2359,” he added.

In paragraph 2357, the Catechism calls homosexual acts “intrinsically disordered,” adding that “under no circumstances can they be approved.”

Maillet told the board that groups who support such relationships have no place in Catholic schools.

“Groups that promote gay pride month and fly the gay pride flag by their nature support these relationships. Sending up gay pride flags and recognizing gay pride month are a sign that their message holds a place in our schools and that their message is not to be contradicted. Flags are flown by those who hold control. Sending signals that support gay pride messages is contrary to the teachings of the Church and have no place in our schools,” he said.

He went on to tell the board that paragraph 2359 of the Catechism “points the way” for how Catholic schools should care for students who experience same-sex attraction.

“Chastity, self-mastery, prayer, and sacramental grace – basically the Eucharist and going to confession,” Maillet said.

“What we don’t want to do is send a student to groups or organizations that lead away from the teachings of Christ and his Church. If something is against Church teaching, that means souls are at risk,” he added.

Maillet concluded his presentation by quoting Jesus’s warning in the Gospel of Matthew to adults who scandalize children, causing them to fall.

“The words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 18 verse 6 is a reminder for each one of us: ‘If anyone of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea.’”

At no point in his presentation did Maillet call for anyone to be “killed” by drowning.

A day after the meeting, pro-LGBT Youtube channel Dignity Lighthouse clipped Maillet’s speech and posted it on the video sharing platform.

LGBT activists and allies immediately started an online campaign against Maillet, accusing him of “homophobia.” Social media messages on Twitter reveal that they reached out to the police and asked for an investigation.

Police Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu of the Toronto Police Service confirmed to LifeSiteNews that an investigation is underway.

“The Hate Crime Unit is working with the divisional investigator to determine whether or not the comments made during the meeting would constitute hate propaganda charges,” Sidhu said.

Jack Fonseca, director of political operations at Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s national pro-life and pro-family organization, told LifeSiteNews that there was “absolutely nothing over the top nor inappropriate in Maillet’s comments.”

“His recitation of Christ's millstone warning for those who cause children to stumble was clearly a spiritual warning to the elected Catholic School Trustees to whom he was speaking, whose role is to pass on the Catholic faith to the next generation. Those words could easily have rolled off the lips of a Catholic priest, Bishop or Catechist,” he said.

Fonseca called it dishonest for Wong-Tam to misrepresent what Maillet said as a death threat.

“It's shameful, disgraceful, a lie and total slander,” he said.

“This faithful, soft-spoken father said nothing wrong. He deserves the praise of school trustees and the church hierarchy for eloquently and accurately stating Church teaching in a very compassionate way.”

“Maillet is being persecuted for his Catholic religious beliefs. What has happened to him is anti-Christian bigotry and hate of the most vile form. The lies being told about him are very serious. He needs to lawyer up and start suing everybody. What the lying City Councillors accused him of has opened them and the City up to a libel suit in the category of Nick Sandmann vs. CNN.”

“Maillet needs to sue those Councillors and the City for millions of dollars for making up these vile and dangerous lies about him. He should also sue any other activist, trustee or group that repeats those lies. He also needs to file a human rights complaint or civil suit against the college that ended his contract,” he added.

LifeSiteNews reached out to Wong-Tam’s office by phone asking if she still stands by her tweet. No response was given by press time.

Fonseca said that Maillet should not let “politicians get away with such vile and dangerous slander against his good name.”

“What she did is illegal, in defaming him with such a patently false accusation which cannot be defended in any way,” he said.

Earlier today, Wong-Tam held a press conference involving TCDSB trustees on the topic of “standing up for LGBTQ2S+ youth.” During the conference, Wong-Tam spoke about a motion she is putting forward that will be debated by City Council tomorrow to have the city cancel advertising in the Italian-Canadian newspaper Corriere Canadese for its series of hard-hitting pieces exposing the TCDSB’s promotion of the LGBT agenda.

To respectfully express your concerns, contact: 

City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam
Constituency Office: 100 Queen St W A5, Toronto, ON, M5H 2N2
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 416-392-7903