Anti-SOGI candidate runs for PPC

A controversial anti-SOGI activist has been named as a candidate for Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada to run in an upcoming byelection in Burnaby South.

Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, who ran unsuccessfully for a school-trustee position on the Burnaby school board, will be the first candidate to run for the new federal party.

In a Facebook statement, Tyler Thompson, a former Christian TV host and anti-abortion activist, says she tried to run for the Conservatives but they said no twice because the “higher-ups” felt she would “ruffle feathers.” She said she “was honoured” to be accepted as one of the first candidates for the PPC.

Tyler Thompson is an outspoken critic of SOGI, the province’s sexual-orientation and gender identity program. The program is a series of resource materials that are designed to guide teachers in helping LGBTQ students and to stop bullying that targets a child’s gender identity.

Tyler Thompson will be running against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Conservative Jay Shin and Liberal Karen Wang. Federal Green party Leader Elizabeth May has said the Greens won’t field a candidate. The seat was formerly held by Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that byelections will be held on Feb. 25 in Burnaby South, Outremont, Que., and York-Simcoe, Ont.