Canada’s federal budget promises anti-hate action, but can the government actually do anything?

2023/04/15 Leave a comment

Valid questions, applies more broadly than LGTBTQ:

While the 2023 federal budget released last month had very little that was new for queer and trans communities, mostly pointing to previous investments that had been made, there was promise buried within to introduce a new Action Plan to Combat Hate later in the year. Just what exactly they’re promising is murky, and it’s hard to tell how many dollars are actually attached to this plan. It notes that between 2019 and 2021, police-reported hate crimes rose by 72 percent, but just how the federal government proposes to tackle that is unclear.

“To confront hate in all its forms, including hate faced by 2SLGBTQI+ communities, the federal government plans to introduce a new Action Plan to Combat Hate later this year,” the budget reads. “This new Action Plan will include measures to combat hateful rhetoric and acts, building on measures being taken in Budget 2023 to build safer, more inclusive communities.”

The dollar figure attached to that is $49.5 million over five years, starting in the 2023–24 fiscal year, with Public Safety Canada to expand its existing Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program. This largely goes toward things like providing more security to synagogues and mosques, which LGBTQ2S+ community centres could also access (if they haven’t already), but there aren’t many of them across the country, and most are situated in bigger cities. The budget indicates that this means an additional $5 million this year, and $11 million for each of the four subsequent fiscal years.

The infrastructure program is not without its critics within the queer and trans communities. The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD), an education, advocacy and research organization, put out a statement decrying the lack of specific investment to combat anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate.

“In its current form, we do not feel confident that the Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program is structured in a way that will protect at-risk 2SLGBTQI+ events (such as pride festivals or drag story hours),” the CCGSD statement reads. “While we look forward to the Action Plan to Combat Hate, there is no indication in Budget 2023 that it will contain any specific funding dedicated to combating anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate.”

This is the part where I start to raise questions, because I’m not sure just what the federal government should be doing about Pride festivals or drag story hours, given that those are largely under the jurisdiction of local governments. Yes, federal governments past and present have given funding support to Pride festivals through Canadian Heritage or tourism grants to help with things like operational funding, but how does the federal government enhance security at a Pride festival? While the CCGSD doesn’t specify what they think the federal government should be doing, I wonder what would those federal dollars be funding for security that shouldn’t be provided by the municipality through local police? I have a hard time seeing a case for millions of federal dollars to be dispersed to provide private security for these festivals, even if some of the larger ones in the country may rely on it as part of their festival operations, particularly because that private security is unlikely to be equipped to deal with potential hate crimes.

This is the part where I start to raise questions, because I’m not sure just what the federal government should be doing about Pride festivals or drag story hours, given that those are largely under the jurisdiction of local governments. Yes, federal governments past and present have given funding support to Pride festivals through Canadian Heritage or tourism grants to help with things like operational funding, but how does the federal government enhance security at a Pride festival? While the CCGSD doesn’t specify what they think the federal government should be doing, I wonder what would those federal dollars be funding for security that shouldn’t be provided by the municipality through local police? I have a hard time seeing a case for millions of federal dollars to be dispersed to provide private security for these festivals, even if some of the larger ones in the country may rely on it as part of their festival operations, particularly because that private security is unlikely to be equipped to deal with potential hate crimes.

Likewise, most drag story hours are held in public libraries, which are the responsibility of municipal governments, and the fervent right-wing animosity toward them are both recent and unlikely to be sustained, and shouldn’t justify permanent security infrastructure funding. Any protests are an issue for local police to deal with—and no, it’s not the federal government’s job to deal with the failures of local police in this country. Policing is a provincial jurisdiction, and civilian oversight should be with the hands of the local police services board (though their efficacy can depend on just how much local involvement there is).

I do think that a federal program to combat hateful rhetoric is a good thing, but we need to see more details about what this is going to look like. We also need to be aware that trust in government when it comes to delivering messages to the public has been eroded thanks to a steady stream of misinformation and disinformation during the pandemic, which capitalized on early mistakes by public health officials, and the evolving nature of our understanding of the virus itself. Because trust is low, combatting that rhetoric could be harder, because there will be those who insist that if the government is trying to combat it, then their homophobic and transphobic rhetoric must be justified. That’s going to be a problem.

If the idea is a national ad campaign that says we should embrace diversity, stamped with the Canada wordmark at the end, that is less likely to be as effective as something akin to providing communities with tools to local police or community organizations to help de-radicalize individuals and groups that are targeting these events. Those tools, whatever they may look like, are more in keeping with what kinds of supports that are appropriate for the federal government to provide.

There is also the ongoing funding for the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, and the various project and community funds that are part of it. This is helping a number of queer and trans organizations and communities across the country build resilience in the wake of increasing hate, but there should also be warning signs here—that groups receiving the funding should be thinking about capacity-building and sustainability. These funds may not survive a change in government, and there has been no move to create a self-sustaining endowment fund like has been done for the Black community, leaving the queer and trans communities that rely on this federal funding more vulnerable. Sustainability is work that these groups should be aware of and working towards.

Source: Canada’s federal budget promises anti-hate action, but can the government actually do anything?

Filed under LGBTQ, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Canada, meet your new LGBTQ2S+ MPs

2021/09/24 Leave a comment

Of note:

After a gruelling 36-day campaign, Canada’s 44th federal election has officially come to an end, and a new Liberal minority government is at the helm. 

Throughout the campaign, Xtra identified 61 openly LGBTQ2S+ candidates running for the major federal parties. We also surveyed each of those candidates about the issues that mattered most to them. Of those 61 candidates, seven have won their seats and now serve as MPs across the country—a record number in Canadian federal history.

That number is up from the last federal election in 2019, when four openly LGBTQ2S+ MPs were elected. Many of those elected this time around were incumbents re-elected to serve another term. And of those, only one MP is a woman and one is Indigenous.

Here are Canada’s new LGBTQ2S+ MPs.

Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach

Blake Desjarlais made history this election, becoming Canada’s first Two-Spirit MP elected to Parliament. A Métis/Cree man raised in the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement northeast of Edmonton, Desjarlais is one of just two LGBTQ2S+ first-time candidates to win their seat. Before entering federal politics, he served as director of public and national affairs for the Métis Settlements General Council. 

In response to Xtra’s survey to LGBTQ2S+ candidates, Desjarlais emphasized the importance of supporting and creating space for queer, trans and Two-Spirit folks, especially LGBTQ2S+ people of colour. 

Desjarlais also spoke to the significance of Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ representation: “Being Two-Spirit is an honour and it’s important to ensure other Two-Spirit folks see representation in Canada,” he wrote. Desjarlais currently stands as the only openly LGBTQ2S+ Indigenous MP in Parliament.

Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt–Saanich–Sooke

Randall Garrison will be serving his fourth term as MP in the B.C. riding he first won back in 2011. Garrison has a long history serving LGBTQ2S+ Canadians; notably, in 2013, he tabled private member’s bill C-279, which would have added gender identity and expression as protected grounds against discrimination to the Criminal Code. He has also served as the NDP’s official LGBTQ+ SOGIE (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression) spokesperson. 

Garrison told Xtra via our candidate survey that his first priority would be banning conversion therapy on a national scale. (Bill C-6, which would ban the discriminatory practice, did not pass through the Senate before the election call.) “Calling an election was clearly a bigger priority for the Liberals than ending the torture and mental health challenges caused by this fraudulent idea that members of our community are broken and need to be fixed,” he wrote.

Garrison also pointed to the continued harassment and discrimination LGBTQ2S+ communities face in Canada. “Discrimination persists in government policies and programs and in the community at large, especially against transgender and non-binary Canadians,” he wrote. “While some progress has been made, we still have a lot more work to do in order to make sure that everyone in the community is treated fairly.”

Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West

Rob Oliphant will be serving his fourth term as MP in the Toronto riding of Don Valley West. Oliphant was first elected in 2008 and served a term as MP before leaving office for the private sector; he returned to federal politics in 2015. In 2019, he served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.

Oliphant did not respond to Xtra’s candidate survey.

Seamus O’Regan, Liberal, St. John’s South–Mount Pearl

This marks Seamus O’Regan’s third term as a Liberal MP in Newfoundland and Labrador. First elected in 2015, O’Regan served a number of roles in the Liberal cabinet, including minister of veterans affairs and minister of Indigenous services. Before the election call, O’Regan was minister of natural resources.

O’Regan did not respond to Xtra’s candidate survey.

Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre

Randy Boissonnault returns to Parliament after losing his seat in 2019. First elected in 2015, Boissonnault was appointed Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 Issues one year into his term as MP. In the role, he helped usher through Bill C-16, legislation that enshrined protections for trans and gender nonconforming Canadians in the Criminal Code and Human Rights Act. He also played a role in issuing an apology to former government workers affected by the gay purge.

In response to Xtra’s candidate survey, Boissonnault emphasized the need to pass legislation to ban conversion therapy. “This horrendous practice must be ended and I will fight every single day to see that improved and expanded legislation to ban it is tabled, debated and passed as quickly as possible,” he wrote.

Though he is one of five white, cis queer men elected to Parliament, Boissonnault also noted importance of recognizing intersections within the LGBTQ2S+ community. “As a white, cisgender member of the community I understand that my experiences are different than other members of the community. I understood this when I was first appointed as Special Adviser on LGBTQ2 issues,” he wrote. “We knew how important it was to ensure that voices of trans, non-binary, BIPOC members of the community were heard as we were consulting on the formation of the role and its mandate. I will always listen and be an ally to all parts of our community.”

Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry

First elected in 2019, Eric Duncan will be returning to his Ontario riding as MP for a second term. Duncan became the unofficial LGBTQ2S+ spokesperson for the Conservative Party after his win in 2019 as the only openly-gay Tory in caucus. He’s best known for his calls to end the blood ban against queer men and trans women; in November 2020, he made headlines when he asked Minister of Health Patty Hajdu if she would accept a donation of his blood as an openly gay man. That fight, he told Xtra in April, is a personal one—he couldn’t donate blood as a closeted gay teen without outing himself. 

Duncan did not respond to Xtra’s candidate survey.

Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill

Melissa Lantsman has become the only openly queer woman in Parliament with her election in the Greater Toronto Area. She’s long been associated with Conservative politics, working as a communications advisor to former prime minister Stephen Harper and a spokesperson for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in 2018. In 2020, Lantsman infamously tweeted that it was more difficult for her to come out as Conservative than it was to come out as a lesbian.

Lantsman did not respond to Xtra’s candidate survey.

Source: https://xtramagazine.com/power/lgbtq2s-federal-election-queer-mps-209072

Filed under LGBTQ, Politics Tagged with ,