Send Jason Kenney your gay books

Today on Open Book Toronto, Paul Vermeersch had some choice words for Jason Kenney. After a lengthy tongue-lashing, Vermeersch issued a challenge: we should send gay books to Jason Kenney.

Vermeersch’s challenge comes one day after it was revealed that Kenney, Canada’s immigration minister, removed references to gay rights in a guide for immigrants applying for Canadian citizenship, despite an impassioned plea from a top bureaucrat to have the gay material reinserted.

Mail going to MPs at their Parliamentary office doesn’t need postage. Here’s his addy:

Jason Kenney
325 East Block

House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Vermeersch, himself a writer, had some suggestions. The ideal Kenney curriculum would include Timothy Findley, Dionne Brand, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Shyam Selvadurai, Daphne Marlatt, Derek McCormack, Ivan E Coyote, Michael V Smith, Zoe Whittall and more.

Vermeersch is also the guy behind a Facebook page calling for Kenney’s resignation.

I’ll give the last word to him:

“[Jason Kenney] and his socially conservative pals have a vision to make Canada a less inclusive, more intolerant place, and Kenney has dug in his heels to make his partisan’s paradise a reality. And if we can’t get Kenney to change jobs, perhaps we can get him to change his mind. What if he simply needs to be enlightened? Maybe all he needs is to read the right books.”

 

(photo courtesy of the Fire Jason Kenney Facebook page)

Marcus McCann

Marcus McCann is an employment and human rights lawyer, member of Queers Crash the Beat, and a part owner of Glad Day Bookshop. Before becoming a lawyer, he was the managing editor of Xtra in Toronto and Ottawa.

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