Question Period Note: 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan

How is the Government advancing equality for 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians?

• Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression continues to be a reality in Canada, and it must be eliminated.
• The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the rights of two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexuality and gender-diverse people.
• That is why, in August 2022, the Government of Canada launched the first federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, developed with input from thousands of individuals who participated in extensive consultations, including members of the Two-Spirit community.
• The Action Plan will guide work throughout the federal government to fight discrimination, to address issues of concern to the 2SLGBTQI+ community, to break down barriers, to advance rights and to build a future where everyone in Canada is truly free to be who they are and love whom they love.
• To support the implementation of the Action Plan, $100 million over five years was announced in Budget 2022, 75% of which will directly support the work of community organizations as an early priority for implementation.
• This work builds on past investments for 2SLGBTQI+ communities:
o $20M in Budget 2019 to enhance the capacity of 2SLGBTQI+ organizations, and;
o An additional $15M in Budget 2021 for a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund to support community initiatives that further 2SLGBTQI+ equality.

The first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan

• On August 28, 2022, the Prime Minister Launched Canada’s first-ever Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan…Building our future, with pride.

• The Action Plan seeks to advance rights and equality for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse people (2SLGBTQI+) people in Canada. It also seeks to address and prevent discrimination and stigma based on sexual orientation, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression from emerging or worsening for future 2SLGBTQI+ generations.

• It will do so by prioritizing community action and by coordinating the Government’s work to advance 2SLGBTQI+ issues across federal departments and agencies using a holistic, intersectional and longer term approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of the types of inequities facing communities.

• Guided by this approach, the Action Plan focuses on the following priority areas over the next five years:

o Prioritize and sustain 2SLGBTQI+ community action
o Continue to advance and strengthen 2SLGBTQI+ rights at home and abroad
o Support Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ resilience and resurgence
o Engage everyone in Canada in fostering a 2SLGBTQI+ inclusive future
o Strengthen 2SLGBTQI+ data and evidence-based policy making
o Embed 2SLGBTQI+ issues in the work of the Government of Canada

• Through the Action Plan, the Government of Canada also intends to work with the Enchanté Network to explore opportunities and determine the best approach to strengthen the Black 2SLGBTQI+ movement in Canada.

• The Action Plan is an evergreen document that builds on progress the Government of Canada has already made and will continue to guide the Government of Canada’s work into the future.

Investment

• Budget 2022 committed $100M over five years to implement the Action Plan. This includes:
o Up to $75M for 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations that advocate for and serve their communities:
 $40 million in new capacity-building support, prioritizing funding for 2SLGBTQI+ communities experiencing additional marginalization, such as Black, racialized, and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities, 2SLGBTQI+ persons with disabilities, seniors, youth, official language minority communities, and those living in rural communities; and
 $35M in new project-focused support aimed at addressing specific barriers to 2SLGBTQI+ equality.
o $7.7M for data collection and community-led policy research to support federal action plan on 2SLGBTQI+ issues; and
o $5.6M to develop and implement awareness campaigns that focus on breaking down stigma and ending discrimination for 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.

• Budget 2021
o Announced $15M over three years for a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund to support community-informed initiatives that address key issues facing 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and
o Included $7.1M over three years to continue to support the work of the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat and enable the continued development of an 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan.

• Budget 2019
o Invested $20M to enhance the capacity of 2SLGBTQI+ organizations.

Results

• In February 2021, the Government of Canada announced funding for 76 2SLGBTQI+ community-led projects across Canada through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund. Of these, 70 were new projects and 6 were amendments for the organizations funded in 2019.

• The government fulfilled its commitment to re-introduce conversion therapy legislation within its first 100 days in office, to eliminate the practice of conversion therapy. This legislation received royal assent on December 8, 2021, and officially became law in Canada on January 7, 2022.

• On March 24, 2022, Health Canada authorized Hema Québec (HQ)’s submission to change their source plasma donor screening criteria. This decision will enable HQ to shift to a behaviour-based model that screens all source plasma donors for high-risk sexual behaviours.

• On April 28, 2022, Health Canada announced that it had authorized Canadian Blood Services’ (CBS) submission, with a target of implementation by September 30, 2022. Under this new approach, CBS will introduce a sexual behaviour-based screening questionnaire that will apply to all donors of blood and plasma. A similar submission was recently put forward by HQ to Health Canada, which is currently under review.

BACKGROUND:

Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat
• On October 26, 2021, the Government of Canada issued an Order in Council to transfer the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat from Canadian Heritage to the Department for Women and Gender Equality.
• The Action Plan includes $11.7M for the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat to expand and stabilize the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat, to oversee and enable the Plan’s implementation.
• This funding fulfills the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth’s December 2021 mandate letter commitment to continue the work of the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat in promoting 2SLGBTQI+ equality at home and abroad, protecting 2SLGBTQI+ rights and addressing discrimination against 2SLGBTQI+ communities, building on the passage of Bill C-4, which criminalized conversion therapy.

Development of the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan
• The federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan was developed based on the experiences, evidence and voices of 2SLGBTQI+ communities and stakeholders through an extensive engagement process. The Government of Canada received input from 25,636 survey respondents, 102 written submissions, and over 100 participants across seven roundtable discussions, who generously shared their lived experiences, knowledge and expertise.

• The Action Plan was also developed using an intersectional lens that recognizes the interconnectedness of issues facing communities and that health, social and economic outcomes are further worsened due to intersecting forms of discrimination on the basis of race, Indigeneity, religion, disability, official language, age, citizenship status and socioeconomic status.

Conversion Therapy
• According to a recently released study, up to 20% of Canadian gay, bisexual, transgender and Two-Spirit men have experienced conversion change efforts – of these, approximately 40%, or 47,000 individuals across the country experienced a conversion therapy-related practice, service, or treatment. While many trans and non-binary people have also experienced conversion therapy or change efforts related to their gender identity or expression, limited data is available to quantify the breadth of this reality.

LGBT Purge
• Between the 1950s and mid-1990s, 2SLGBTQI+ Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members, as well as 2SLGBTQI+ federal public servants, were subjected to systemic discrimination and harassment in what is now referred to as the LGBT Purge. Many were interrogated, followed, abused, and fired in accordance with policy and sanctioned practice.

• In 2016, survivors of the LGBT Purge launched a national class action lawsuit against the Canadian government. In 2017, the Prime Minister issued an apology to the survivors of the LGBT Purge and 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

• In June 2018, the Federal Court approved the LGBT Purge Class Action Final Settlement Agreement, which seeks to resolve the class action in a fair and compassionate manner through funding for recognition and memorialization exhibits, compensation for class members who were impacted by the LGBT Purge, and the presentation of a Canada Pride Citation certificate and insignia by the Federal Public Service, RCMP or CAF.

• The Action Plan seeks to strengthen 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion in federal workplaces to ensure that nothing akin to the LGBT Purge happens again.

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