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William Whatcott, a well-known anti-LGBTQ activist wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for wilful promotion of hatred, plans to turn himself in this week, according to his lawyer.
Whatcott, who once lived in New Westminster, is accused of distributing 3,000 pamphlets to attendees at Pride Toronto’s 2016 parade. They contained what Toronto police call “hateful” content. A warrant was issued in spring 2018.
Whatcott’s lawyer, Charles Lugosi, said his client intends to turn himself in to police in Calgary on Friday. The allegations contained in the warrant have not been proven in court.
In a post on Freenorthamerica.ca — a website associated with what appears to be Whatcott’s Twitter account — a user called “Bill Whatcott” described the pamphlets distributed on July 3, 2016, when he and several others dressed in skin-tight full-length green bodysuits to hand out anti-LGBTQ materials. A copy of the material posted on the website contains Whatcott’s name and warns parade goers of “homosexual inspired oppression.”
Toronto police spokesperson Const. Caroline de Kloet said the force is aware Whatcott intends to turn himself in. She said part of the reason the warrant was issued two years after the incidents is because police had to to “liaise” with the prosecution to approve the charge.
Whatcott, who described himself in previous court proceedings as a “Christian activist” who formerly “engaged in same-sex sexual activity,” could not be reached for comment. His current lawyer, Lugosi, said his client intends to co-operate with police but will challenge the allegation. Lugosi said Monday he has yet to read the warrant.
“Usually, a Canada-wide warrant is issued with somebody alleged to have committed a very serious crime, like murder,” Lugosi said. “Normally, with something like this, it’s never done. It’s abnormal.”
“Mr. Whatcott intends to be fully co-operative … I am trying to facilitate his surrender on this warrant.”
Pride Toronto executive director Olivia Nuamah said it’s a “positive” step that an arrest has been made.
“LGBTQ hate crime has gone up significantly this year,” Nuamah said. “Just in general, the arrest and prosecution rates are incredibly low … It’s important that the rates of both arrest and prosecutions go up significantly.”
After the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade, Whatcott was the subject of a $103-million class-action lawsuit alleging hate speech directed at the LGBTQ community. In a March 2017 ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the judge said the class-action suit would not stand but that the people who filed the suit could pursue individual civil lawsuits against Whatcott.
Jeremy Dias, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, said police need to do more to discourage anti-LGBTQ activists from disrupting Pride festivities. Dias, who attended the 2016 parade, said the pamphlets were “reprehensible.”
“We really need police services to take these actions more seriously,” Dias said. “If you’re breaking the law and conducting hate speech, then that’s a problem … It should be prosecuted, period. No questions asked.”
On Freenorthamerica.ca, the user “Bill Whatcott” said he received the notice of his arrest warrant on June 13, 2018. The post said Whatcott will turn himself in to Calgary police on June 22 at 10 a.m. and that his supporters are organizing a protest.
“It appears I am facing an indictable charge for ‘Public Incitement of Hatred,’” the post reads. “The ‘crime?’ My ministry bringing the Gospel and the truth about homosexuality to Toronto’s … pride parade in 2016.”
Police looked for Whatcott in multiple provinces. A department update provided by New Westminster Police in B.C. said they received a call for assistance from Toronto police in April. Whatcott was then believed to be living in New Westminster, in the eastern part of Metro Vancouver.
At the time, police confirmed Whatcott’s residence in New Westminster and were working on “co-ordinating an arrest” with Toronto police. However, it is unclear whether Whatcott was actually in New Westminster at that point. Reached by phone, Whatcott’s wife Jadranka Whatcott said the pair used to live in New Westminster but moved to Alberta earlier this year.
In a separate matter, Whatcott is also the subject of an ongoing human-rights discrimination complaint filed by a transgender woman in B.C.
It was filed by transgender-rights advocate Morgane Oger. According to human-rights tribunal documents, Whatcott allegedly distributed flyers disparaging Oger during the spring 2017 B.C. election, when Oger was running as the NDP candidate for Vancouver-False Creek. The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal said Whatcott argued in his response that his “conduct was protected by the guarantees of freedom of religion and speech” granted by the Charter.
Whatcott allegedly wrote that because Oger is a transgender woman, she is unfit to work as a politician, expressing concerns about the “growth of homosexuality and transvestitism.”
Within days of the flyers being distributed, Oger’s campaign team contacted the Vancouver Police Department. Oger said an officer came to her house and took a statement but that Vancouver police did not charge Whatcott.
“(They) would not actually even engage … until it was discovered that I was a political candidate for a party,” she said. “I would assume that I can count on the police in B.C. here, but experience tells me maybe we have a ways to go,” Oger said.
Asked about Oger’s case, Vancouver police said they cannot provide information on specific cases unless charges have been approved by the Crown.
Since the flyers about Oger were first published, a Facebook account with the name of “Bill Whatcott” posted further material attacking Oger’s transgender identity. One example occurred on Feb. 17, 2018, when the user posted a photo of Oger with the caption “you are still a guy,” referring to her by the first name she used before transitioning.
Oger said she’s looking forward to the conclusion of this case.
“As someone who faces constant harassment … I welcome some precedent being set, explaining clearly where the law draws the line between acceptable behaviour and unacceptable behaviour,” she said.
Michael Mui is a Vancouver-based investigative reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @mui24hours
Tessa Vikander is a Vancouver-based reporter covering identity and inequality. Follow her on Twitter: @tessavikander
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