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National Union releases Voters' Guide factsheet on LGBTQI2S rights.
Ottawa (16 Oct. 2019) — Today the National Union of Public and General Employees has released the latest in its series of fact sheets for the 2019 general election. The topic of today’s release is LGBTQI2S rights.
Some steps in the right direction
There have been positive steps made in the area of LGBTQI2S rights since the last federal election. In June 2017, Bill C-16 officially amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. It also amended the Criminal Code to deal with hate crimes related to gender identity and gender expression.
Bill C-16 was introduced by then Liberal MP Jody Wilson Raybould. MPs from the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party voted unanimously to accept the proposed legislation. On the other hand, 40 Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party voted against Bill C -16, including Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer.
But there's a lot more work to be done
Still, there’s a lot more work to do to promote LGBTQI2S rights. For example, there’s concern that the federal government has still not ended the ban on blood donations by gay or bisexual men who are sexually active. Instead, the federal government reduced the period of time that gay and bisexual male donors have to be abstinent before donating blood.
The 2019 federal election voter’s guide
Unions have historically been strong supporters of programs which benefit all members of society, at the same time as they continue to advocate on behalf of their members. The National Union has compiled the 2019 Federal Election Voter’s Guide as a resource for our membership. The guide provides an overview of key issues and of the political parties’ track records and campaign promises in these areas.
Today, we are releasing a fact sheet on LGBTQI2S rights.
The position political parties take on this issue will have long-term impacts on what type of society we create.
We encourage our members to engage with the Voter’s Guide and the accompanying factsheets to help inform their voting decisions.
Finally, we encourage members to exercise their right to vote!