According to Adad and Styrczula, flying the pride flag is a way to counter student "harassment based on their perceived sexual orientation" in the board's schools. The suggestion is that Catholic teaching is now spreading hate. But who defines "hate?" Does the homosexual activist organization Egale Canada get to decide what is taught in Catholic schools and form the morality of the nation? We can only assume the presenters have never heard of the two great commandments: to love God and one's neighbour. This is the best and greatest kind of inclusion. But pushing the pride flag, both in schools and the rest of society, was never about true inclusion.

Here's their speech. Parents can make their own assessment. Notice the assumption made that before 2023, everyone was doing everything wrong and we were just waiting for these anti-hate committees to fix it all! NOT!

Good evening, my name is Gerald Adad and I am the Coordinator for the Countering Hate Committee. I would like to speak to you about our Committee, our work in hate crime, and how our findings may inform the decisions being made today. 

The Countering Hate Committee was founded in 2023 to launch a training module to educate the community on the complexities of hate, and encourage reporting of hate crime and incidents. This is a community-led and community-driven approach that is the first of its kind. It is work that has been informed by a diverse team of service providers and community groups representative of the communities that we serve in Peel Region. Taking this approach has directly contributed to the success of our program so far.

Since the program launch in March 2024 this approach has allowed us to reach over 50 community groups, agencies, and places of worship with a collective audience of over 2000 community members across the region.

This work has allowed us to reach youth communities and directly hear about their challenges and needs. It has informed the creation of a Youth Module, which we will also roll out into the community. This new module provides opportunities for youth to learn about bystander intervention practices when encountering hate in the community and better online habits to avoid hateful content.

Our interactions with youth have helped to educate us on the unique challenges they face when it comes to hate. We know that today, youth of all walks of life see and experience hate on a daily basis, such that it is becoming normalized in their day-to-day student experiences here in Peel. Statistics from Egale Canada have shown us that 62% of 2SLGBTQ+ respondents feel unsafe at school, compared to 11% of cisgender heterosexual students, and 35% of students who attend Catholic schools reported experiencing
harassment based on their perceived sexual orientation.

I will now pass it over to my colleague, Cst. Joanna Styrczula to speak on some of her work and experiences at Peel Regional Police.

Good evening, my name is Joanna Styrczula and I am a member of the Countering Hate Committee as well as the Regional Hate Crime Coordinator at Peel Regional Police. Peel Regional Police serves one of the most diverse communities in Canada, our sworn and civilian membership also reflect the diversity of our community. We recognize that creating an environment of inclusion and belonging greatly benefits our members, especially members from underrepresented communities. To create a sense of well-being40 for our members at Peel Regional Police, we have established internal support networks specifically designed for marginalized members including for our 2SLGBTQ+ members, promoting visibility, and creating a sense of belonging. 

These networks not only provide essential support but also facilitate information sessions for allies educating them about the 2SLGBTQ+ community and the invaluable contributions they make to our society. We also raise the Pride flag at our Headquarters every June and the Transgender flag every November as it sends a powerful message of inclusion and support signalling to our community that we value diversity and stand firmly against hate. These actions promoting inclusivity within our service create a better environment of well being for our officers, which allows us to be better servants to the public here in Peel.

I will now turn it back to Gerald. Thank you Joanna.

Countering hate is not something that we can arrest our way out of. It takes an all-of-community approach, and institutions must play a major part in addressing how to best foster inclusion and safety. As a Father Michael Goetz Gator myself, I remember our slogan of “Take a risk, get involved and be committed”. I think of the first part of our slogan and acknowledge that bold action in service of our community takes risk, but it is necessary. 

We hope that given the current climate, all institutions, including the board, will take our indings and experiences into consideration when making decisions on practices of inclusion and safety, in service of our community.

Thank you for your time.