LGBT

Justin Trudeau poses with openly gay MP, his partner, and their daughters

by Craig Takeuchi on November 9th, 2015 at 2:13 PM
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      The days of chilliness towards LGBT issues from our nation's prime minister are over.

      Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously demonstrated his support for LGBT communities, his continued commitment was underlined when he posed with Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison, his partner, and their twin girls, which became a viral sensation on Facebook. Brison is a Liberal MP for Kings-Hants.

      Montreal LGBT advocate Laurent McCutcheon posted the image of Trudeau with Brison's family on Facebook, accompanied with congratulations to Brison in French:

      "Mes félicitations à Scott Brison, nouveau président du conseil du trésor du Canada, et à son conjoint, Maxime St-Pierre, papas des jumelles, Claire et Rose. Photo avec Justin Trudeau. Peu de pays au monde font preuve d'autant d'ouverture." 

      McCutcheon's last line translates essentially as "few countries in the world show such openness".

      It's a far cry from former PM Stephen Harper, who didn't show up for Fierté Montréal 2015 (Montreal's Pride parade) even though four party leaders did (Trudeau, NDP's Tom Mulclair, Green Party's Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe).

      Also, Trudeau kept his promise to attend the Vancouver Pride parade (in addition to Elizabeth May), launching his election campaign from Vancouver.

      Justin Trudeau kept his promise to appear at the 2015 Vancouver Pride Parade.

      Six openly gay MPs are now in Parliament.

      The Liberal caucus features four openly gay men, a record for the party.

      The other three men (in addition to Brison) are Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West, Ontario), Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton-Centre), and Seamus O'Regan (St.  John's South-Mount Pearl), a former Canada AM cohost and CTV correspondent.

      Meanwhile, the NDP have two queer members, including one from B.C.: Randall Garrison continues to represent Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke and Sheri Benson was elected for Saskatoon West.

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