Question Period Note: Advancing LGBTQ2 Equality

What is the Government of Canada doing to advance equality for LGBTQ2 Canadians?

*The Government of Canada believes that promoting equality, protecting rights, and addressing discrimination against LGBTQ2 communities is important. This is why the Government of Canada has introduced many initiatives to advance the equality and rights of LGBTQ2 individuals.

*The Government of Canada is investing $20 million over three years under the new Equality for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Program.

*This investment will help build capacity and enable community-level work of Canadian organizations supporting LGBTQ2 individuals, including $2 million from the 2019-2020 Supplementary Estimates (A).

*In addition to funding, the Government of Canada took concrete actions to address existing inequalities including:
o In 2017, the Prime Minister formally apologized to LGBTQ2 communities for the historical unjust treatment of LGBTQ2 federal public servants, including those in the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP and of LGBTQ2 Indigenous Peoples.
o In 2017, the Government of Canada amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.
o With the introduction of Bill C-32 in 2016, section 159 (anal intercourse) was repealed from the Criminal Code, removing discriminatory provisions.

Women and Gender Equality Canada’s mandate expanded with the Royal Assent of its Departmental legislation in 2018. The scope of the Minister’s responsibilities was also broadened to also include the advancement of social, economic and political equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, which includes LGBTQ2 individuals.

The Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada works closely with the LGBTQ2 Secretariat on issues affecting LGBTQ2 communities and is working to ensure these are reflected and considered across the department’s business lines.

WAGE provides advice and support to other government departments in the development of policies and initiatives that reflect the needs and concerns of LGBTQ2 communities. This includes providing a range of tools and supports for rigorous Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) that helps integrate LGBTQ2 perspectives in all areas of policy-making.

Budget 2019 provided funding of $20 million over three years to help community level organizations enhance their capacity to provide services and supports to LGBTQ2 individuals in local communities. To date, $2 million of this funding has been distributed to seven organizations through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund. The seven organizations include:

• Fierté Canada Pride ($250,000)
o This 7-month project will address organizational capacity needs to strengthen the organization’s foundational structure and network to support the growth and capacity of Pride organizations across the country. This will include engagement in an asset mapping exercise, developing and launching a 5-year strategic plan, implementing a micro-granting program for small and medium Pride organizations, and providing members with capacity-building support services.

• Conseil québécois LGBT ($249,963)
o This 7-month project will allow for the organization of a provincial gathering of LGBTQ2 organizations. This will initiate a strategic reflection on the development of a concerted organizational vision that takes into account a diversity of realities and issues within the LGBTQ2 communities in Quebec. The project will also strengthen the organization’s financial viability and its ability to support its members by enhancing its communication practices; implementing a micro-granting program (targeting mainly LGBTQ2 service organizations located outside metropolitan communities in Quebec); and, offering fundraising support services and capacity-building activities to its members.

• Enchanté: a Network of 2SLGBTQ+ Centres of Canada ($700,000)
o This 8-month project will address organizational capacity needs of Enchanté: a Network of 2SLGBTQ+ Centres of Canada, to support its incorporation and expansion from coast to coast, strengthen its governance, develop and implement a communication strategy, work on partnership development, organize its founding national general meeting and provide micro grants to support the capacity building of LGBTQ2 centres and establishment of other centres across the country.

• Égale Canada Human Rights Trust ($399,884)
o This 8-month project will address organizational capacity needs through expansion of its research capacity and establishing a National LGBTQ2 Research Lab/Hub in order to ensure greater accessibility to knowledge, expertise, and best practices to address discrimination and oppression experienced by members of the LGBTQ2 community in Canada. Organizational capacity will be enhanced through establishing a National LGBTQ2 Academic Advisory Council; developing an online research hub; completing a literature review and conducting preliminary research summaries on key areas of interest; and promoting the research hub and individual studies and findings via online communication channels.

• Canadian Rainbow Coalition for Refuge ($150,000)
o This 7-month project will address organizational capacity needs of the Rainbow Coalition for Refuge (RC4R) and promote collaborative knowledge generation and dissemination amongst the emerging national network of LGBTQ2 refugee civil society organizations in order to offer LGBTQ2 newcomers safety, care, and resources for resilience, as well as opportunities for livelihood and civic participation.

• 2 Spirits in Motion Foundation ($200,000)
o This 7-month project will address organizational capacity needs of the 2-Spirits in Motion Foundation (2SiMF) and promote collaborative knowledge generation and dissemination amongst Two Spirit peoples and organizations in order to foster the creation of a safe and supportive environment for Two Spirit peoples in Canada. Organizational capacity building will be enhanced through the development of a strategic plan to advance 2SiMF’s finance, governance and human resource management structures, as well as disbursement of micro-grants to strengthen the capacity of locally and regionally engaged two-spirit organizations in Canada. A national Two Spirit gathering will inform priority setting for future policy and planning.

• Canadian Trans Network ($99,984)
o The Canadian Trans Network will work collaboratively with community partners to organize the Canadian Trans Summit 2019 to bring trans and non-binary people from across the country together to identify a way forward for trans and non-binary advocacy in Canada.

In 2017, “Gender identity or expression" was added to the Canadian Human Rights Act’s list of prohibited grounds of discrimination and to the Criminal Code’s list of groups protected from hate propaganda.

In November 2017, the Prime Minister delivered a formal apology in the House of Commons to individuals harmed by federal legislation, policies and practices that led to the oppression of and discrimination against LGBTQ2 people in Canada.

The Department of Justice introduced legislation to remove discriminatory provisions in the Canadian law:
o Bill C-32, repealed section 159 of the Criminal Code which made certain forms of anal intercourse illegal.
o The Canadian Human Rights Act was amended to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.
o The Ministers of Justice and of Health and the Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues wrote a joint letter to their provincial and territorial counterparts committing to explore ways to ban conversion therapy, and urging their ministerial equivalents to do the same.

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