Archive

Posts Tagged ‘bill’

Federal Call To Action – Trans Rights Now!

November 13th, 2011 Comments off

Recently, Randall Garrison, MP and LGBTT critic for the New Democratic Party of Canada, reintroduced into Parliament a Bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Criminal Code of Canada to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.

As you may know, this Bill – Bill C-279 – had a previous manifestation, Bill C-389, which made it through Parliament but died at the Senate when the government was dissolved in March. Now, thanks to the re-introduction of the Bill by Randall Garrison, we have yet another chance to make these human rights protections a reality.

Here’s how you can help put the pressure on the MP’s and the Prime Minister to pass the Bill:

1. Do a canvass!
Print out some copies of Randall Garrison’s petition, grab some friends, and hit your local neighbourhood hotspots. Then, mail copies of the petition to back to MP Garrison so that he may bring it to the floor. The best part of this is that postage is FREE!

Click here to download a copy of the petition [PDF Format].

2. Contact your Member of Parliament (MP)
Call, write, email, tweet or snail-mail your MPs, and the Leaders of the Conservative, NDP and Liberal Parties of Canada. Let them know that you support fundamental human rights, and that passing this Bill would provide explicit and unequivocal human rights protections to transsexual, transgender, intersex and gender variant individuals in Canada.

Don’t know who your MP is? You can find them easily using this online tool and your postal code: http://bit.ly/mfMkVq

Call, write or email the Minister of Justice, the Hon. Rob Nicholson, P.C., M.P.
Telephone: 613-995-1547       E-mail: Nichor@parl.gc.ca

Call, write or email the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Telephone: 613-992-4211     Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Letters to all MPs, Party Leaders, the Prime Minister can be sent postage free to:

House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

So call, write, and tweet away – let’s make this the winning Bill!

Categories: Releases Tags: , , ,

Support Bill C-389 – Write The Senate Today!

February 17th, 2011 Comments off

With the recent passage of Bill C-389 through the House of Commons, it is now up to the Senate to pass the Bill to ensure that gender identity and gender expression are written into law as protected grouonds against discrimination.

Please find below a link to a website that has made it very easy to e-mail the Senate to let them know that you support the passage of Bill C-389. The website has a backgrounder on what this bill means as well as a template letter and the e-mail addresses for all the Senators.

Take a minute out of your day and write to the Senators to let them know that you support Bill C-389 and they should too!

http://passbillc389.wordpress.com/how-you-can-help/

Categories: Releases Tags: , , ,

Attorney General’s Non-Support for Trans Human Rights Bill-186 Reprehensible

November 25th, 2010 Comments off

Queer Ontario deplores the recent decision taken by Attorney General of Ontario Chris Bentley on November 18, 2010 to dismiss the latest appeal to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Queer Ontario strongly supports the inclusion of the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” in human rights legislation as tabled in private members bills brought forth by MP Bill Siksay at the federal level and MPP Cheri DiNovo at the provincial level in Ontario. The extension of human rights protections to Canadians whose gender identity or expression is not based on a ‘biological’ binary model is long overdue especially since they are recognized as one of the most disenfranchised and oppressed populations in the country.

In a previous release (June 4, 2010) Queer Ontario called upon all MPPs in the Ontario provincial legislature to support DiNovo’s private member’s Bill 186 — also known as Toby’s Act — which would include “gender identity” as an enumerated ground for protection in the Ontario Human Rights Code. We are deeply concerned with the fact that Attorney General Chris Bentley has failed to recognize the need for these special provisions, especially for the legal and social protection of the thousands of Ontarians who are directly affected by gender-based discrimination and harassment across the province. Indeed, “It is extremely disappointing that Attorney General Bentley fails to see the importance of this bill, and it is equally as reprehensible that he and the governing Liberals are failing to take a principled stance on this long overdue human rights issue” says Queer Ontario founder Nick Mulé.

Chris Bentley based his decision not to support inclusion of gender identity as prohibited grounds for discrimination by stating that existing provisions in the Human Rights Code designated under ‘sex’ and ‘disability’ provide adequate protection. Queer Ontario, in alliance with trans-rights activists, contests this assumption and reasserts the proof that explicit recognition of gender-based discrimination is needed in the Code in order to expressly recognize the ongoing systemic discrimination faced by gender-described Canadians.

Trans folks continue to face severe disadvantage in employment, housing and the provision of health and social services. Data from the Trans PULSE Health Survey reveals that trans people face disproportionate levels of poverty with over 40% unemployed, underemployed or unable to work. Moreover 50% of trans people reported an annual income of $15,000 or less, and one in five were living in assisted or unstable housing. Trans-identified Ontarians consistently face discrimination from landlords and health care providers (43% without formal training on trans issues), including denial of access to vital services such as shelters, mental health, and rape crisis services. All of this has a serious impact on their health and wellbeing as 43% of trans Ontarians have attempted suicide.

The work of the Trans Human Rights Campaign and others to include explicit language in the Ontario Human Rights Code is fully supported by Queer Ontario. We feel that this is a crucial and important step in making trans-human rights visible in the Province and indeed throughout Canada. Including trans human rights in the Ontario Human Rights Code provides not only much needed symbolic recognition to a vulnerable population, but, equally as important, it also extends concrete legal protection and recognition for trans-identified Canadians as part of a pluralistic and equitable society.

SOURCES:

Trans PULSE. (2007). Trans Pulse: Report on Phase I & Plans for Phases II and III. London: University of Western Ontario. Retrieved November 23, 2010.

Trans PULSE E-Bulletin. (2010). Ontario Trans Communities and Suicide: Transphobia is Bad for Our Health, Vol. 1, 2. London: University of Western Ontario. Retrieved November 23, 2010.

Trans PULSE E-Bulletin. (2010). Who Are Trans People in Ontario? Vol. 1, 1. London: University of Western Ontario. Retrieved November 23, 2010.

INTERVIEWS:

Nick Mule – 416.926.9135
nickm@look.ca

Categories: Releases Tags: , , , ,