The Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA) congratulates the Senate of Canada - Sénat du Canada in passing Third Reading of Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. The vote was 67- Yes; 11 - No; and 3 – Abstentions.
"June 15, 2017 will be a historic moment for equality and human rights for all Canadians," says Stephanie Shostak, a TESA board member. "C-16 explicitly adds gender identity and gender expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act as a prohibited ground of discrimination."
The bill will now go to the Governor General of Canada to obtain Royal Assent. Once it is signed, Canada will have comprehensive Human Rights Act protection as this will complement the legislation that many of the Provinces and Territories have passed within their Legislatures. C-16 also makes an amendment the Criminal Code such that prejudice or hate based on gender identity or expression constitutes an aggravating circumstance that a court must take into consideration when it imposes a sentence.
"Respectful person who are not willfully discriminating against someone have nothing to fear. No one should be concerned about free speech limitations as hate speech laws already exist in Canada," said Shostak.
The passage of this law is but one step in a continuing fight for equality for the transgender community in Canada. At the present, trans and gender diverse Canadians still face substantial challenges accessing federal services in areas including, but not limited to, accessing federal identification such as passports and immigration documents, equality in regulation and law regarding airports and transportation, as well as exclusion or erasure from national statistics collection and analysis.
TESA’s mission is to be a witness and a voice for matters concerning trans Albertans and is hopeful that with the passage of this bill it will prompt movement towards addressing many of these systemic issues. While C-16 was being debated in the House of Commons, the Honourable Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould said, "With this bill, we say loudly and clearly that it is time to move beyond tolerance of trans people. It is time for their full acceptance and inclusion in Canadian society". Passing bill C-16 is a big step towards achieving that goal, but there remains much work to be done.
"We’ve seen the provinces eclipse the federal government in this area since the first bills were introduced," says TESA board member Angela Reid, "In fact, all Canadian jurisdictions passed legislation prior to C-16 being passed by the Senate today."
It is the fourth such bill to be introduced since 2011 and the first with government backing. Previous bills were Bill C-204 introduced by Randall Garrison in December 2015, Bill C-279 which died in the Senate on June 30, 2015, and Bill C-389 dying on March 25, 2011 after an election call.
http://www.tesaonline.org
Additional Information:
TESA -- Human Rights Across Canada
http://www.tesaonline.org/human-rights-across-canada.html
TESA -- Campaign: Adding gender identity & gender expression to Canadian laws
http://www.tesaonline.org/nottrashrights.html
TESA -- Including the term Gender Identity in Canadian Statutes: Bill C-279
A report to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (LCJC) on September 3, 2014.
http://www.tesaonline.org/lcjc2014-c279.html
TESA -- Adding the term Gender Identity to Canadian Statutes: Bill C-279
A report to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights (RIDR) on June 10, 2013.
http://www.tesaonline.org/ridr2013.html
TESA -- Adding the terms "Gender Identity" and "Gender Expression" to Canadian Laws
A report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST), October 10, 2012.
http://www.tesaonline.org/just2012.html
PMO -- Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Mandate Letter
http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-justice-and-attorney-general-canada-mandate-letter
CHRC -- People First: The Canadian Human Rights Commission's 2015 Annual Report to Parliament
Lucas Silveira: Struggling for acceptance
http://www.chrcreport.ca/sites/chrc-annual-report/files/chrc-annual-report-2015.pdf (pp. 60-64)
http://www.chrcreport.ca/en/lucas-silveira
CHRC -- Repair the erosion of human rights in Canada
News release on October 20, 2015.
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1018479
CHRC -- Advice to Parliament: Gender identity
2013 Canadian Human Rights Commission Annual Report
http://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/report/engagement/parliament
CHRC -- Chief commissioner speaks on the inclusion of Gender Identity as a ground of discrimination: testimony of David Langtry, Canadian Human Rights Commission to Senate standing committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding Bill C-279 on June 3, 2013.
http://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/chief-commissioner-speaks-inclusion-gender-identity-ground-discrimination
CHRC -- Protect rights of transgender people: testimony of Ian Fine, Canadian Human Rights Commission to Senate standing committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding Bill C-279 on November 22, 2012.
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/eng/content/protect-rights-transgender-people
CHRARP -- Attorney General of Canada: Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel ["La Forest Report"], 2000.
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/J2-168-2000E.pdf
CAN -- Charter of Rights and Freedoms
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html
CAN -- Canadian Human Rights Act
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html#he
CAN -- Criminal Code
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46
