A YouTuber who’s a close associate of newly named federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra — and who had access to several members of the federal cabinet, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — has used his popular channel to amplify anti-LBGTQ rhetoric.

Fadi Younes, who operates a Toronto-based digital marketing agency and a YouTube channel with more than 267,000 followers, has known Alghabra for at least several years, and was with the new minister when the latter was sworn in on Tuesday, according to Younes’ online posts.

In a video in Arabic titled “The influence of homosexuality on society” that was posted to Younes’ channel on July 15, 2017, he talks about his beliefs about being LGTBQ.

“It’s a firm and clear stance that will never change, even after a thousand years,” Younes says in the video, which is in Arabic with English subtitles. Foreign-language subtitles can be added to a YouTube video by whoever publishes it.

“I don’t agree with LGBTQ, and I consider it a movement against human nature and the nature of the universe,” he says. “Besides that, it’s one of the major sins in Islam.”

Later in the video, Younes says he believes people who are gay are “confused.”

“Some of the reasons are media and movies, which present the LGBTQ as a normal thing, while it’s not. One reason for this confusion can be a congenital or medical issue, which is related to hormonal imbalance. Also, the bad raising of children,” he says.

In the video’s conclusion, Younes says, “For LGBTQ people, I see that we have to embrace this sector of society and to open the door to dialogue, to build the bridge of communication and to rehabilitate them, hoping that someday they will be back to normal.”

On July 20, 2017, five days after Younes published the video on YouTube, he posted a photo on his Facebook page of him with Alghabra at an announcement of Toronto’s Festival of Arabic Music & Arts.

Younes and Alghabra have remained linked since 2017. Younes was at Alghabra’s re-election celebration last year, and they’ve appeared in several videos together that Younes has posted, including one in the House of Commons.

Furthermore, Younes’ company was paid at least $6,000 by Alghabra’s office, and Younes met the Palestinian ambassador during a visit to Alghabra’s Ottawa office.

Younes has also been introduced to other members of the federal cabinet, including Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, who’s made several videos with Younes.