Holy political hot stuff, Batman
Tory MP
Belinda Stronach has defected to the Liberals and been
named to Cabinet.
And a private member's
trans human rights bill has just been tabled in Parliament by British Columbia New Democrat Bill Siksay. The receptionist in Siksay's Ottawa office said it hasn't even been assigned an official "C-something" number yet. What a morning.
ADDENDUM, May 18: Here're
the details, from Hansard:
"Mr. Bill Siksay (Burnaby - Douglas, NDP) moved for leave to introduce Bill C-392, an act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (gender identity).
"He said: Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce this morning a private member's bill that would add protections for transsexual and transgendered Canadians to the Canadian Human Rights Act by adding 'gender identity or expression' to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the act.
"Members of the trans-community face significant and serious discrimination in Canadian society, notably in the workplace and in the health care system. They suffer harassment and are all too often subjected to violence and murder. This bill would ensure explicit protections for trans-identified Canadians in areas of federal jurisdiction."
The actual text of Bill C-392 can
be found here.