UPDATE November 9, 2016
The Justice Committee approved transgender Bill C-16 for vote in the House of Commons without hearings or public consultation details
Ottawa November 2 2016 – During the 2015 election, Trudeau famously assured the public that transparency and public accountability would be the order of the day if he became Prime Minister.
In just over a year since being elected Prime Minister, Trudeau has apparently grown tired of the drudgery of democracy, and is using his majority to nonchalantly ram through a bill without providing adequate explanation, evidence or data to support it.
On October 18th, 2016, second reading took place on Bill C-16 which amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to provide special protection for transsexuals and to include them in the list of identifiable groups that are protected from hate propaganda in the Criminal Code.
The debate commenced at 10:10 a.m. and in just 4 hours at 2:00 p.m. the majority Liberals pushed the bill to the Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
That Committee did not bother to invite witnesses from the public to appear before it. Further, Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, admitted at the Committee Hearing that she had no actual evidence or data on whether transsexuals were actually experiencing discrimination or hate, but was only relying on information provided to her from partisan Transgender and LGBT activists.
Also, during discussions at the Committee, it was clear that no one understood the meaning of the expressions “gender identity” and “gender expression” which were supposed to be protected by these amendments. Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould, in explaining the bill admitted that transpersons could already complain of discrimination on the grounds of sex under the Human Rights Act. This bill, therefore, lifts the transgendered to an explicit category in law. This has not been done for any other group such as First Nations people or other vulnerable individuals who also experience discrimination.
When the issue was raised as to how this legislation will affect immigration, travel procedures for transsexuals, their passports and their placement in federal correctional facilities, Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould admitted that these issues had not yet been dealt with and that there would be “ongoing discussions” about them.
It is noteworthy that new medical evidence has been disclosed in The Journal – The New Atlantis, (August 23, 2016) www.thenewatlantis.com that there is no scientific evidence supporting the transgendered. The report specifically stated that:
- The belief that gender identity is an innate, fixed human property independent of biological sex – so that a person might be a ‘man trapped in a woman’s body’ or ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’ – is not supported by scientific evidence.
And
- Transgender people have higher rates of mental health problems (anxiety, depression, suicide), as well as behavioral and social problems (substance abuse, intimate partner violence), than the general population. Discrimination alone does not account for the entire disparity.
Bill C-16 will have wide ranging impact. It applies to the federal government in its role as employer and service provider and to the federally regulated private sector, including crown corporations, inter-provincial and international transportation companies, telecommunications, the postal service and chartered banks. This bill is a political statement which will be followed with programs of employment equity and amelioration.
This significant bill is an embarrassment to Canada. It is based purely on politically correct ideology, not facts or evidence and is being rammed through Parliament in a highly undemocratic manner.
It is completely unacceptable, both in regard to the procedural process applied, as well as to its content.
REAL Women of Canada sends letter to Members of Parliament Re Bill C-16