Ontario approves measure that allows government to take children from parents who oppose gender ideology

The Canadian province of Ontario has passed a legislation that has been described by critics as "totalitarian" as it allows the government to seize children from families who do not accept gender ideology.

Bill 89, or the Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act, 2017, was passed by a vote of 63–23 on June 1, the last day before Queen's Park adjourns for the summer, Life Site News reported.

The measure repeals and replaces the Child and Family Services Act, which governs child protection services, as well as adoption and foster care services.

Under the legislation, "gender identity" and "gender expression" are included as factors to be considered "in the best interests of the child." However, the religious faith in which the parents are raising the child is removed from consideration in assessing the child's bests interest.

"With the passage of Bill 89, we've entered an era of totalitarian power by the state, such as never witnessed before in Canada's history," said Jack Fonseca, senior political strategist for Campaign Life Coalition.

"Make no mistake, Bill 89 is a grave threat to Christians and all people of faith who have children, or who hope to grow their family through adoption," he added.

Fonseca asserted that the measure would give government workers the legal means to discriminate against Christians who want to adopt or foster children.

He claimed that there were several Christian couples who were turned down for adoption because of their religious beliefs about marriage and human sexuality even before Bill 89 was passed.

Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) was the first pro-family group to express concerns about the bill.

While the former law states that the Children's Aid Society should take the "least disruptive course of action," Bill 89 includes a provision that calls for "early intervention services and community support services," according to an ARPA analysis.

At the second reading of the bill in March, 83 of Ontario's 107 MPPs voted unanimously to advance the legislation. But Conservative MPP's who were present at Queen's Park for the vote on June 1 opposed the measure, which was in stark contrast to their position in March.

No Liberal broke ranks to vote against the bill, and several New Democratic Party MPPs voted in favor of the legislation as well.

Fonseca lauded the MPPs who voted against Bill 89, and he called on Christian leaders, particularly Catholic Bishops, to voice their opposition to the bill.

The bill was introduced by Minister of Child and Family Services Michael Coteau, who has previously stated that he considers questioning a teenagers' self-identification as LGBTQI or telling them to change as abuse.

"I would consider that a form of abuse, when a child identifies one way and a caregiver is saying no, you need to do this differently," Coteau said.

"If it's abuse, and if it's within the definition, a child can be removed from that environment and placed into protection where the abuse stops," he continued.