Bank of Montreal now requiring business partners to conform to its pro-gay ‘diversity’ standards
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| English: BMO Centre "Hall A" entrance in Stampede Park, Calgary, Alberta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth largest bank, has begun a process of requiring the businesses with which it works to conform to its pro-homosexual “diversity” standards.
In an October 9th email to its legal suppliers, leaked by the Institute for Canadian Values, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) wrote that to show its “commitment to diversity and inclusion” it will no longer do business with law firms whose diversity standards are “not compatible” with the bank’s.
However, the bank indicated that law firms were only the first among many groups it does business with to face the sanctions, stating: “The bank is starting with legal suppliers and going from there.”
“BMO requires the law firms with whom we do business to disclose the diversity statistics of their associates, partners and management committee as part of our External Counsel Selection Program,” the communication from the head office states.
“If there [sic] standards are not compatible with the bank, they will be dropped,” the letter adds.
BMO states in the letter that it is the first Canadian bank to have such a supplier hiring policy in place, saying it is “at the forefront of a new frontier in which we not only expect higher standards of diversity and inclusion from ourselves, but our suppliers as well.”
LifeSiteNews repeatedly asked BMO by email and phone how it can claim to support “diversity and inclusivity” when at the same time it will drop law firms that may have a differing view on marriage and sexuality, but did not receive a response.
Charles McVety, president of the Institute for Canadian Values as well as the Canada Family Action Coalition, called the policy “thinly veiled discrimination against Christians.”
“They are in essence saying: ‘If you support traditional marriage, we will not do business with you,’” he told LifeSiteNews.
“They have made it very clear that if you subscribe to Christian values, then they are not going to do business with you. That is discrimination. It violates the protections under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under the equality provisions of the Charter.”
Gwen Landolt, a lawyer and national vice-president of Real Women of Canada, called BMO’s policy the “height of discrimination and intolerance.”
“Their position is shocking and appalling. They have applied political correctness to the absolute borderline of insanity,” she told LifeSiteNews.
LifeSiteNews asked the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) if BMO was legally allowed to discriminate against vendors in this manner, to which it replied: “The CBA does not comment on the business operations of individual members.”
This is not the first time BMO, Canada’s oldest and fourth largest bank, has used its clout in campaigning for homosexual privilege in the name of “diversity and inclusivity.”
In March the bank wrote to the Law Society of Upper Canada asking it to deny accreditation of Trinity Western University’s legal program since the bank viewed the university’s Community Covenant — which requires students to abstain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and woman” — as discriminatory against homosexuals.
“We believe the Community Covenant discriminates against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation and gender expression,” the letter, signed by BMO Executive Vice-President Simon Fish, states.
BMO has played a significant role behind the scenes in promoting homosexuality in the workplace, helping to establish a group called Legal Leaders for Diversity (LLD) which exists not only for “promoting diversity in the workplace,” but to “creat[e] a more inclusive profession for LGBT lawyers and staff.” The group’s mission, according to its website, is to “support vendors and suppliers whose ownership or employee base reflects a commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
Major Canadian corporations belonging to LLD include everything from car companies and grocery chains to computer firms and cereal companies. Among a list of 76 companies are included: Sobeys, Target, BP, Ford, Xerox, Bell, RBC, UPS, The Home Depot, Coco Cola, JohnSon, Chevron, HP, Dell, Kellogg’s OLG, Shell, TD, and Nissan.
So active has top BMO brass been in the push for “inclusivity and diversity” that Diversity Canada Magazine selected Richard Rudderham, BMO Financial Group’s Chief Human Resources Officer, as one of its 2014 “Top 10 Diversity Change Leaders” for his efforts in “establish[ing] a culture of inclusion.”
In 2006 the bank financed the construction in Toronto of the first condominium complex in Canada to be marketed exclusively to homosexuals, affirming at that time its commitment to “supporting the diversity of the marketplace which will in turn help make our communities healthier and happier.”
McVety is asking concerned Canadians to contact BMO to tell them to stop discriminating against Christians. He said if BMO does not back down and reverse policy, he will consider rallying Christians nationwide to boycott the bank.
“We hope BMO will come to its senses and realize that discrimination against Christians is not viable before we have to call for a boycott,” he said.
Contact:
BMO Financial Group
Corporate Communications
100 King Street West, 28th Floor
Toronto, ON M5X 1A1
Tel: (416) 867-6785
Corporate Communications
100 King Street West, 28th Floor
Toronto, ON M5X 1A1
Tel: (416) 867-6785
BMO President & CEO
corp.secretary@bmo.com
corp.secretary@bmo.com
BMO Board of Directors
board.directors@bmo.com
board.directors@bmo.com
