Some time this fall, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to apologize on behalf of the country, its past governments, and all its citizens to those who were fired from jobs, imprisoned, or otherwise persecuted due to their sexuality. According to The Globe and Mail, a national daily newspaper, Trudeau and the Liberals — who currently enjoy a majority in parliament — will make the apology as part of a series of reforms that aim to address and eradicate discrimination against non-heterosexual Canadians.
The Trudeau government is expected to act on a significant majority of recommendations made by Egale, a national organization that advocates for sexual minorities in Canada. Beyond the broad public apology, those recommendations include: apologizing to those convicted of “gross indecency” for committing homosexual acts prior to 1969, when such acts were decriminalized, and to those discharged from the military due to their sexuality; eliminating the discrepancy in age of consent laws, which currently legalize vaginal sex at 16 but anal sex at 18; examining reparative pay to those who suffered discrimination; requiring law enforcement officers to receive human rights training and education; eliminating laws that criminalize group sex and other activities; and implementing laws and procedures to protect the safety and dignity of gay and transgender persons in jails and prisons.
The Liberals are expected to appoint a senior official to work with Egale and other advocacy groups in implementing the reforms, a process the party reportedly hopes to complete before the next federal election. “This is a long-awaited moment,” said Helen Kennedy, Egale’s executive director. “For the government to recognize the damage that it caused, the harm that it caused, to thousands and thousands of Canadians is a historic moment for our communities.”
Egale’s recommendations came as part of a report called The Just Society, a name that refers to the guiding ideology of the current Prime Minister’s father, the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau. In 1968, shortly before he was elected Prime Minister (a post he would hold for 15 non-consecutive years), the elder Trudeau said: “The just society will be one in which the rights of minorities will be safe from the whims of intolerant majorities. The just society will be one in which those regions and groups which have not fully shared in the country’s affluence will be given a better opportunity.”
(Via The Globe And Mail)