Exclusive Brethren ~ Anti-gay secretive religious sect

A secret group has been mailing literture condemning same-sex marriage to tens of thousands of Canadian households. The material has a post office box for a return address at a 711 store in Toronto.

The material came to light recently when Liberal MP Mark Holland complained in the House of Commons in March. Residents in his riding had received the mailout. Very little is known of the group. The Vancouver Sun has discovered more about the group in an article it published today.

The group is made up of membership in the United States, England and Canada. In 2004 it ran ads in support of George W Bush. It is not known if the mailouts in Canada are being paid for by American members or not. There is currently no restriction on this kind of political activity or financing such activity by foreigners in Canada.

Earlier this year we learned that Focus on the Family (Canada) had received in excess of one million dollars from the the American Focus on the Family religious activist group and that The American Knights of Columbus paid for 100's of thousands of post cards protesting same-sex marriage in Canada. The cards were delivered to Catholic Churchs across Canada.

You can read the Vancouver Sun article here or here...

OTTAWA -- A secretive religious sect is behind an aggressive but anonymous direct-mail and advertising campaign against gay marriage that has triggered complaints in Parliament and in the media from MPs and ordinary Canadians from B.C. to Atlantic Canada, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Some members of the ultra-conservative Exclusive Brethren, who shun relationships with non-members and require their women to wear head scarves in public, organized and funded the campaign, a sect member confirmed Thursday.