Niagara Catholic school board trustee compares Pride flag to Nazi flag, video shows

A Niagara Catholic District School Board (NCDSB) trustee is facing criticism after a videosurfacedappearing to showhercomparethe Pride flag to the Nazi flag.

A video posted to YouTubea week ago byPeter Taras, a former Ontario candidate for the People's Party of Canada, shows the trustee Natalia Benoit say she didn't want the school board to fly the Pride flag.

"Well, any flag at all...Like the Nazi flag, we don't want that up either, right?" Benoit says in the video.

Nazi fascists in Germany murdered six million Jewish peopleduring the Holocaust in the Second World War.

The Nazis also jailed up to 50,000 LGBTQ people and sent up to 15,000 to concentration camps, according to Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Benoitdidn't respond to severalinterview requests from CBC Hamilton before deadline onWednesday.

School board director 'very disappointed'

NCDSB directorCamillo Cipriano told CBC Hamilton the comments came afterBenoitpresented a notice of motion at aMay 23 board meeting to introduce a new policy to prevent flag flying.

"The policy is quite detailed but essentially the policy had components thatif passed ... would essentially limit or maybe eliminate the abilityto fly any type of flag, including the Pride flag," he said.

Cipriano said that will be debated and voted upon at the next board meeting in June, during Pride month.

Hesaid he was "very disappointed" and "hurt"by her recent comments and said they don't reflect the views of the school board or staff.

"It is unfortunate we have members of our community who might think that way,"Cipriano said.

"The Pride flag is a symbol of love ... the flag she referred to is a symbol of hate."

Politicians need to step up, advocate says

Saleh Waziruddin, an executive committee member of the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, said elected officials making comments like what Benoit saidis "a sign that things are really bad."

"This is pretty dangerous," Waziruddin said.

He said the comment adds fuel to hate-based campaigns across Canada against LGBTQ people.

The latesthate crimes report from Statistics Canadanoted a 64 per cent increase in cases targeting individuals for their sexual orientation.

PublicSafetyCanada recently told CBC Newsit was "deeply concerned about the increase of anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate and the potential impact on the safety of Pride events."

In theOntario township of Norwich, lawmakers votednot to fly the Pride flag on municipal property.

Meanwhile, Niagara police said Wednesdayofficers are investigating after aPride flag atTrinity United Church in Lincoln, Ont., was cut down from a flag post and ripped up on May 27.

"The investigation is being treated as potentially a hate-based incident," Niagara police said.

Waziruddin said politiciansneed to speak out against hate.

"People will listen to elected officials taking a stand on this," he said.