Radio-Canada’s headquarters in Montreal was vandalized by far-left extremists last Wednesday, an act claimed online as a rebuttal to the controversial report on gender transition therapy for minors.
An anonymous submission was published to Montréal Contre-Information’s website titled “Radio-Canada has blood on its hands: a look back at the shop windows destroyed on the night of March 12-13.”
The letter confirmed that activists destroyed the windows of the Radio-Canada building in response to the organization’s “decision to use its broad platform to amplify transphobic rhetoric akin to that of the extreme right.”
At 2:20 a.m. on March 13, a distress call to 911 led the Montreal police to the scene, where they discovered shattered windows at the building’s entrance.
One or more suspects caused the damage before fleeing the scene. No arrests have been made, and the investigation continues.
True North previously reported that Montréal Contre-Information has a history of guiding anarchists in violent tactics and once openly advocated for assault on law enforcement personnel. Guides can be found on their website instructing people on how to make Molotov cocktails, how to make paint bombs without leaving fingerprints, and more.
The act of vandalism comes in the wake of the broadcast of “Trans Express,” an investigation by Radio-Canada that highlighted a 14-year-old girl in Quebec quickly obtaining a prescription for cross-sex hormones without consent from their parents or a medical referral.
“The TransExpress report that appeared on Enquête on February 29, 2024, is an intellectually and scientifically dishonest attack on trans people and their access to healthcare. This report represents an ideological shift that serves to legitimize the transphobic demands of the extreme right, which will fan the flames of violence against trans communities, currently increasingly targeted,” reads the anonymous letter in French.
While Radio-Canada’s investigative report showcased a teenager getting a prescription for cross-sex hormones in only nine minutes, it also showcased trans youth in Quebec who detransitioned, claiming that they were rushed into irreversible transitions by healthcare providers who they said did little to address their pre-existing mental health conditions.
True North previously reported that Quebec has seen a dramatic increase in gender dysphoria treatment among teens, with the number of girls aged 14 to 17 prescribed testosterone soaring by 870% over a decade. In Quebec’s two main gender clinics, approximately 1,110 gender dysphoric teens are receiving treatment. While no minors underwent double mastectomy procedures in 2018, the figure surged to 18 Quebec girls in 2023.
During an appearance on Tout le Monde en Parle, Pasquale Turbide, a journalist with Radio-Canada, attributed the initiation of the investigation to rising concerns from parents.
She shared that around 20 parents contacted Radio-Canada with similar stories, expressing their panic at the speed of the transgender healthcare system despite being generally supportive and open-minded.
“There’s been a huge increase in the transgender clientele in the last 15 years, and in this increase, we’re seeing more girls than before, a lot more people with mental health problems that won’t necessarily be resolved by transitioning,” said Turbide.
The anonymous letter called out Turbide specifically.
“The journalist refuses to make a real effort to research and understand trans reality. In the report, she uses language that is transphobic and disrespectful of communities, constantly shaming trans people,” said the letter.
It added that everyone should be able to experiment as they see fit, even if it results in mistakes, and that permission from “the state watchdogs” should not be a requirement.
The letter criticizes “the state” for instead of talking about the collapse of public services, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the rise of fascism, and police violence, it allegedly creates an “imaginary threat.”
“The fascist drift of our societies uses the trans community as a scapegoat. The increasingly authoritarian and violent state seeks to make us an enemy with which to justify its power and violence. And don’t expect them to stop until we stop them,” said the letter.
The letter claimed that “it’s not neutral to repeat at prime time hours the rhetoric pushed by the alliance of extreme far-right forces.”
“What a shame to hear again the rhetoric of the religious right, neo-Nazis, masculinists, and the rest of the hate camp on a public news channel!”
The allegedly misleading report from Radio-Canada will cause hate movements that will result in the death of young trans people “by murder or suicide,” claimed the letter.
“In choosing to participate in a campaign of disinformation and hate propaganda against our communities, behind a pseudo-scientific veneer that’s all the more dangerous for it, perhaps these journalists figured that the trans community is an easy target, few in number, isolated, and multi-marginalized.”
“But please understand that we are not alone: our allies are many and our rage runs deep. We are determined and united. This won’t be the first, nor the last, time queers bash back!” warned the letter.
The Director of Public Relations for Radio-Canada, Marc Pichette, provided comment to True North.
“We do not wish to comment on this case of vandalism and the demands that might be associated with it. A police investigation is currently underway. We consider the insinuations published on MTL Contre-Information baseless and misguided,” he said.