Vancouver's West End distraught by anti-trans posters > New Westminster pastor promotes feminism in an unusual way Aaron Guillen Staff Reporter 4 M r. Trudeau, in order to be a feminist, you have to believe ‘woman’ means something. Take action against Bill C-16.” These bold words, proclaimed on numerous posters, were dispersed throughout the Metro Vancouver region. Recently, many LGBTQ+ residents in the West End of downtown Vancouver have found these messages to be an act of hate. On the poster, the hashtag #lullbillci6 is being encouraged to share on social media, with an additional link to a campaign website that explains Bill C-16 as “..[one] that completely undermines and destroys women’s rights, freedoms, protections, and identity under the law.” Essentially, Bill C-16 is a proposed amendment of the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited discriminations. In addition, the Criminal Code will be amended to protect against hate propaganda and crimes, especially against those who are transitioning or have transitioned. “Transgender people need to hear that their rights, their human rights, their dignity is protected within our Human Rights Act,” shared QMUNITY executive director C.J. Rowe to Global News. Paul Dirks, pastor of the New Westminster Community Church, has come under heavy scrutiny after the images of his campaign slogan against Bill C-16 spread across the local region and beyond. According to Dirks, the bill is described as “disastrous.” Dirks argues that this kind of legislation places gender and sex on opposite sides, thus rendering the word “female” useless, and effectively harming women’s rights for the future. “The bill opens spaces for predators to come in [and take advantage of these laws]. People haven't thought through this, so we're raising awareness,” Dirks said to the New Westminster Record. Dirks pointed out how many cases of violence and assault have been reported, especially in unisex and women’s areas, suggesting that Bill C-16 would open door wider for harm to women. “At best, his campaign is insensitive to the experience of trans persons. At worst, the campaign, and its associated website, convey thinly veiled fear mongering and transphobia,’ explained Kurt Knoblick, Director at Large for New Westminster Pride Society in a Mr. Trudeau: Inorder to be a Feminist, you pet have to believe WOMAN MEANS SOMETHING letter to the New Westminster Record. “While claiming to ‘value and respect all people, Pastor Dirks does not believe it to be necessary to consider how denying Bill C-16 will affect the daily lives of trans persons and further marginalize their experience,” the letter read. “The language of the bill does not attack the definition of woman nor women’s rights. Advancing the rights and protections of trans persons does not diminish the rights and protections of any other Canadian citizen. The proposed bill is neither anti-women, nor anti-family as Christy Clark 1n hot water after false allegations > Blunder is bad press for BC Liberals as election nears Mercedes Deutscher News Editor C Premier Christy Clark found herself and her party in trouble after hastily accusing the BC NDP of hacking the BC Liberal website earlier this month. It started on February 6, when Emile Scheffel, Director of Communications for the BC Liberal party, revealed that the governing party’s website had been hacked over the previous weekend, and that an investigation was underway. According to Scheffel’s twitter, information from a document regarding grassroots supporters had allegedly been stolen through the website. “Dirty tricks by our opponents are in stark contrast to the constructive feedback gathered for our first- ever #VanIsle platform,” Scheffel tweeted regarding the incident. The BC NDP was quick to retort, insisting that the document had been mistakenly published by a staff member of the BC Liberals. Clark was quick to join in accusing the BC NDP of hacking the website, and began making direct accusations toward the opposing party on February 7. “Hacking into websites with malicious intent is against the law. They haven't exactly admitted that that’s what they have done,” Clark told The Vancouver Sun and The Province in a Facebook interview. Clark followed up her statement on February 8, and told The Globe and Mail that “whether or not they would admit to doing it, I don’t know, but I’m not spending a whole lot of time thinking about whether or not and how the NDP is going to conduct the campaign.” BC NDP leader John Horgan was outraged by the accusations, and the party began to look into legal action regarding the accusations. “I believe that the premier should do the right thing and apologize to the Image via i.huffpost.com E vill Image via www.dailyxtra.com his campaign website would suggest.” Looking to the future, the New Westminster Pride Society hopes to have a conversation with Dirks about his campaign, in search of informing and educating the pastor about the importance of rights for anyone, no matter how they identify or express themselves. “People who put up these posters are obsessed with myths that are unfounded about supposed dangers that trans women [or men] pose,” said Morgane Oger, chair of the Trans Alliance Society to the New Westminster Record. BC NDP) said Horgan to CBC. “The premier just wants to distract from the issues she is weak on.” By the end of the week, on February 10, independent MLA Vicki Huntington revealed that she had access to the leaked documents, but was able to access them without hacking, adding leverage to the claim that the information had been leaked from the inside. Furthermore, Huntington revealed that security surrounding the BC Liberal website was weak, and that the information was found while her staff was researching donations to the BC Liberals. “No passwords were used, no usernames, no encryption devices. Just the clicking of the mouse and they found a number of documents, one of which contained personal information that was obviously publicly accessible on their website,” explained Huntington to Global News. Clark was quick to backtrack on her accusations toward the BC NDP and apologized for her actions, yet Horgan suggested that the whole scandal was meant as a distraction. “They've got a throne speech coming up next week and a budget the week after,’ Horgan said to Global News. “They should have been focused like lasers on those events to set themselves up for the ensuing election campaign.”