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“I felt discriminated against,” said Mr. St-Onge. “[I was thinking] ‘What, are you painting a label on my back, that I’m a pedophile?’ That’s what really, really, really bothered me. What do you think I’m going to do in there?”

The pair asked to speak with a manager, but the manager did not come out to talk to them, instead only confirming the policy through a front desk employee.

Ms. St-Onge said her father, who has battled health problems such diabetes, cancer and heart disease in recent years, was “devastated.” The pair drove back to Windsor.

“I felt like I know how a person in the southern United States in the 1950s felt,” Mr. St-Onge said. “I didn’t say a word, because there were children there. I was thinking to myself, ‘Without the support of the adults, this place would not exist.’”

The general manager at Legoland Discovery Centre (the first to open in Canada, and the sixth in North America) stood by the policy Tuesday, and said it would have even been unacceptable for an employee to escort the St-Onges to the Toronto skyline exhibit so they could snap a few photos.

“Protecting families is the primary goal that we have,” Rene Gurtner said. “Yes I understand that people might feel discriminated against because they don’t have children or cannot have children, but that’s why we have adult nights to make up for that.”

While he acknowledges the risk of predators is likely low, he said one incident would be “devastating” to the organization. The sweeping policy is in place at Discovery Centres across the continent, he said.