Kentville Police Service charged a 26-year-old man after they were alerted of a comment posted on social media on Feb. 20., that prompted Valley Pride to cancel its skiing event last weekend.

According to a media release by police, the comment was reported to be “promoting violence and hatred against an identifiable group.” Police declined an interview, but refered CBC to that media release.

Ashley Cyr, the chair of the Valley Pride, which serves people across the Annapolis Valley, said in an interview on Saturday that the comment was left under a post promoting an event called Queer Ski Day, which was supposed to take place on Feb. 22 in partnership with the Town of Kentville and Cross Country Nova Scotia. 

They said the comment targeted people from the transgender community specifically.

Cyr said they considered postponing the event or changing locations.

“After speaking with the town and with Kentville Police Service, it was recommended that we cancel it for right now, just for the safety of our community,” said Cyr. 

The comment was taken down from the platform. 

The man, who is not being named by police, was charged with willful promotion of hatred, uttering threats to cause death and failing to comply with a probation order. 

He was remanded into custody and will appear in court on March 4. Police are asking people with any information to reach out. 

Cyr said they have received negative online comments in the past, but that “this one was more directly threatening than other ones” they have received. 

“It’s always hard when these things happen,” they said. “We are, as always, going to be putting safety first with all of our events.”

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