Organizers behind a new billboard say its intention is to encourage conversation about BC students’ education; however, it is being criticized for amplifying harmful misinformation.
Get Awake is the organization behind the sign hung earlier this month along Highway 97 in Kelowna.
The sign reads, “What are your kids REALLY learning in school?” and includes a photo of a cartoon which appears to be a teacher wearing a face mask in front of a 2SLGBTQ+ flag.
In a statement, Get Awake explains there are several meanings to the sign including claims that people who disagree with “radical and harmful agenda being pushed on kids” are being bullied.
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Advocacy Canada has created a petition for the removal of the billboard.
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer Kyla Lee describes the billboard as “abhorrent” but said it’s not unlawful signage.
“The billboard is protected expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which functions to protect free expression even where it is distasteful,” she explained. “The billboard appears to be carefully worded to also not engage in discrimination but instead to suggest people think critically about what is being taught in school.”
“So there is nothing that clearly amounts to a human rights violation on the billboard itself either.”
For this billboard to be considered hate speech, Lee said it would have to promote hatred of a person or “advocate for a breach of the peace or violence.”
The provincial and the federal governments are looking into ways billboards like Get Awake are harmful and can be considered “hate speech,” Lee added.
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