Votes for supporters of transgender rights urged in federal election

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      An online campaign is calling on Canadians to reelect MPs who support transgender rights and to vote incumbents opposed to transgender equality out of office.

      The Trans Pride Canada website and Facebook page list how federal politicians voted on Bill C-389 in the House of Commons.

      Introduced by Bill Siksay, the outgoing NDP MP for Burnaby-Douglas, the legislation would have added “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

      Bill C-389 passed third reading in the Commons by a vote of 143-135, but died in the Senate when the federal election was called.

      At third reading, the majority of Bloc Québécois, Liberal, and NDP MPs voted in favour of the bill, while it was opposed by most Conservative members.

      Vancouver-area incumbents who voted against Bill C-389 include Conservatives Nina Grewal (Fleetwood-Port Kells), Mark Warawa (Langley), Andrew Saxton (North Vancouver), Randy Kamp (Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission), Alice Wong (Richmond), Russ Hiebert (South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale), and John Weston (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country).

      James Moore, who’s seeking reelection in Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, was one of the few Conservative MPs who supported the bill.

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

      Comments

      2 Comments

      Ken Lawson

      Apr 27, 2011 at 10:41am

      Not me but you can I do not even like the candidates photoed above their performance in the last Parliament have been lacking!

      M Furtado

      Apr 27, 2011 at 11:35am

      Nina Grewal is hardly seen around her riding and the Conservatives think she is a liability if she talks. So they have muscled her. She did not show up to the "All Candidates Town Meeting," citing other commitments at the last minute, and if you speak to anybody in her riding, they will tell you that non-respresentation is the biggest problem in Fleetwood Pork Kells. She is available for photo-ops(funny since she showed up for the above photo), but will not around for the real concerns in the area.