JANE LYTVYNENKO
CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief

OTTAWA (CUP) — A bill that would provide additional legal protections for trans people is almost ready for its third reading.

The private member’s bill, tabled by NDP MP Randall Garrison, is currently being reviewed by the House Justice Committee.

Although a rarity for opposition bills, C-279 has gathered support among all political parties, advocating for the inclusion of “gender expression” and “gender identity” in the Human Rights Act and under the hate crimes section of the Criminal Code.

If passed, the bill would allow trans people to change the gender on their identification, as well as allow offenders to be sentenced under hate crimes legislation for discrimination against transgendered people.

“I think it’s important legally to fix that gap [in legislation] and also symbolically for Parliament to make a statement — like it was done with other kinds of discrimination — that this kind of discrimination isn’t acceptable in Canada,” said Garrison.

“There is a purpose in informing the public by listing groups,” he added. “We’ve already listed sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, language, so to me it’s just as important to list gender identity and to make that declaration public that this is the type of discrimination that’s not allowed. “

As the bill went into committee on November 27, Garrison said there were some changes that had to be made. In a blog post on his website, Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber said that the term “gender expression” is too vague — a sentiment other members of Parliament echoed, according to Garrison.

“I voted against the bill at second reading and spoke against a similar bill introduced in the last Parliament.  These are complicated and sensitive matters and my opposition to this bill is based entirely upon legal analysis, not on any particular bias,” wrote Rathgeber. “The flaw in bill C-279 is that the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” are not defined.”

Garrison acknowledged the issues with the bill, and said changes will be made to the final copy in committee.

“It will just be gender identity that’s included and not gender expression,” he explained. “The original bill has both. We’ll also provide a clear and simple definition of gender identity, which is based on the international law definitions.”

Ryan Dyck, the director of policy and public education at Egale, a charity promoting LGBT rights, said although taking out “gender expression” limits inclusivity, it does put transgendered people in a stronger legal position.

Critics of the bill also argue that there is no need for it as the Criminal Code already includes transgendered people. Dyck said although that argument works in theory, it does not in practice.

“Part of the bill would amend the hate crime sentencing provisions of the Criminal Code, section 718,” he said. “The argument has been that that clause includes the phrase ‘or any other similar factor’ so that’s good enough. We’ve done quite a bit of research looking into it. Despite the fact that 20 per cent of trans people in Ontario alone have been a victim of a physical or sexual assault, not a single case exists where the hate crime sentencing provisions have been applied against a trans person.”

Randall said although C-279 is due for third reading in February, he is looking to trade with another bill for a spot in December to “see it pass with no further delay.”

“One of the biggest causes of discrimination and harassment against trans people is invisibility,” said Dyck. “Trans people are a small minority … so this certainly goes a long way increasing visibility, increasing education around gender, gender identity and gender expression, and that will absolutely have a positive effect.

“Nobody is asking for anything special here,” he added. “We are asking to include the same rights and protections that all other Canadians already enjoy that have been unjustly denied to trans people in the past.”

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Photo: Alex Smyth/CUP