The Girl Guides of Canada — Canada’s largest organisation for girls and women — have a long tradition of visiting other scouts in the USA, to the benefit of both American and Canadian scouts, but that’s come to an end, because Canada’s Girl Guides are worried that Muslim girls, brown girls, and girls whose families come from countries singled out for discrimination by the Trump regime will face discrimination at the border.
The announcement follows on a series of high-profile incidents in which non-white Canadians were harassed, threatened and turned away at the US border.
The Guides didn’t mention Trump by name in their announcement, but they talked about Guiding’s tradition of diversity and inclusivity and the worry that “some girls could get left behind when a group tried to enter the US.”
Canadian schools are also talking about cancelling all of their field-trips to the USA.
“This just speaks to the Girl Guides of Canada and our commitment to inclusivity,” Kiriliuks said. “We just want to make sure that no girl gets left behind.”A nationally sponsored trip to a California camp that was scheduled for this summer is being relocated. The group is encouraging local leaders to consider domestic trips instead.
Canadian schools are also considering cancelling trips to the US.
Jim Cambridge, superintendent of the Sooke school district in British Columbia, has said a number of trips planned for sports, music and educational purposes in the coming months are being reconsidered.
Canada’s Girl Guides cancel all US travel as Trump rules spark fears at border
[Associated Press]