A leading advocate for transgender rights is expressing confidence that Bill C-16, which would significantly strengthen legal protections for gender identity and expression, will win committee and Senate approval now that the landmark legislation has easily passed second reading in the House of Commons.
The bill, if it becomes law, would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to make it illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of their gender self-identification, the same way sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age and certain other factors are explicitly prohibited grounds of discrimination.
Bill C-16 would also reform Canada’s hate speech law by protecting “gender identity and gender expression” — alongside colour, race, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation and other specified characteristics that constitute “identifiable groups” in Canadian society.
Previous attempts to enshrine transgender rights in CHRA and Criminal Code have not succeeded.
Amanda Ryan, president of the Ottawa-based transgender support group Gender Mosaic, said the strong support for the bill among MPs is fueling optimism ahead of committee hearings and eventual Senate deliberations.
The bill passed second reading Oct. 18 by a vote of 248 to 40. Ryan said she’s very encouraged by the wide margin of approval, noting it’s “much better than when we were scrambling to get enough votes to pass in the last session.
“We’re progressing positively,” Ryan added. “We should have passed this bill a number of times in the past, in different sessions of Parliament. But it was slowed down and blocked in many situations.”
This time, however, the proposed legislation was introduced by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould as a government bill. Previous reform efforts were framed as private members’ bills.
Ryan said she is happy that things are moving forward, though she had been hoping Bill C-16 would be sent directly to third reading without the committee process.
A similar bill was put forward by NDP MP Randall Garrison in 2011, but ended up facing many challenges in both the House and Senate. Conservative Senator Don Plett in particular took issue with that bill because it gave transgender people the right to use whichever public washroom corresponded with their gender identity.
Conservative MP and party leadership contender Brad Trost, who voted against Bill C-16 last week, said the provision of gender-neutral washrooms should be up to individual organizations.
“In the end I, as the government, don’t want to interfere with every organization,” said the Saskatchewan MP. “Rather than worry about what the big solution is to these problems, try to find something practical that people can work with. And frankly, it should be their own decisions in many ways.”
He added: “I really don’t want to get into telling people how to do stuff, if they can find something that works in terms of privacy and safety, and security for everyone.”
Ryan said the tone of Trost’s comments on the issue is encouraging.
“If he isn’t showing general objection to gender-neutral washrooms, then that’s a good thing. I think we’re seeing more and more that politicians who have been against the bill fade into the background.”
Ryan said she believes politicians who don’t support the bill recognize they no longer have a popular point of view.
“I think that the politicians who have been against it in the past may still be against it, but they’re not being anywhere near as vocal as they used to be,” said Ryan.
Ryan said she has noticed a major shift in Conservative support since last year’s federal election, specifically citing backing for Bill C-16 from Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose and Tory MPs Tony Clement and David Tilson.
Ryan said that in the previous parliamentary session, former prime minister Stephen Harper would “come down on” Conservatives who expressed support for bills of this nature.
Ryan said that she’s also optimistic about Bill C-16’s chances in the Senate.
“Senator Plett was a significant negative voice in the past, and I wonder how negative he will be this time around.”
Senator Plett was contacted to comment on this story and declined.
Ryan said she is certain he will oppose the bill, “but whether he expresses that negativity like he did in the past… I don’t know. He will not have the same support he had in the previous Parliament.”