Canada’s travel advisory for visitors to the United States has been updated to warn LGBTQ travelers about laws and policies that may affect the community.
“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons,” the travel advisory states. “Check relevant state and local laws.”
The ‘2S’ abbreviation refers to Two-Spirit, a term used in Indigenous and First Nations communities to describe people who are not straight or cisgender.
The travel advisory page links to a separate page of travel advice for LGBTQ residents, encouraging them to research and follow the laws of the country they are visiting, “even if these laws infringe on your human rights.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland addressed the new travel advisory Tuesday, backing the decision of Global Affairs Canada, which oversees such advisories.
“Every Canadian government, very much including our government, needs to put at the center of everything we do the interests and the safety of every single Canadian and of every single group of Canadians,” Freeland told reporters in a press conference.
She continued, “That’s what we’re doing now, that’s what we’re always going to do.”
A participant carries a placard during the Vancouver Pride Parade, Aug. 06, 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.
Andrew Chin/Getty Images, FILE
The U.S. has seen a rise in legislation targeting the LGBTQ community in recent years. Bills have increasingly targeted transgender health care, inclusion of LGBTQ identities in classroom content, public drag performances, and more.
According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures in 2023, with at least 70 being enacted.
The HRC, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations, in June declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. The organization cited what they described as the record-breaking wave of legislation targeting the LGBTQ community and an increasingly hostile environment.
Ahead of Pride Month, celebrated in June, the Department of Homeland Security in May also warned law enforcement and government agencies about “intensified” threats of violence against the community within the previous year.
According to DHS, about 20% of all hate crimes reported throughout the country in 2021 were motivated by bias linked to sexual orientation and gender, citing the FBI’s hate crime statistics.
“The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived — they are real, tangible and dangerous,” Kelley Robinson, the president of HRC, said in a statement.
She continued, “In many cases they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia that puts the safety of each and every one of us at risk.”
JASPER, ALTA. – The Alberta government has announced 250 units of interim housing for Jasper, Alta., residents displaced by a wildfire this summer.
Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says the housing will cost the province $112 million, and the units will be rented at or near market rates.
The July wildfire destroyed one-third of the tourist town’s structures, including more than 800 units of housing.
Nixon says it’s still being determined how many of the interim housing units will be single occupancy and how many will be designed for families.
Mayor Richard Ireland says the need for housing was already an issue before the fire, but these units will help Jasper residents recover from the disaster.
Nixon says units are expected to be available in January.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
OTTAWA – A federal public inquiry into foreign interference is grappling with how to define its central issue as it begins the final week of hearings in Ottawa.
The inquiry will hear from expert panels this week on disinformation, national security and how to ensure electoral integrity.
This morning, experts talked about the challenge in differentiating between legitimate diplomatic efforts and more nefarious interference attempts.
This panel also includes the challenge of how to regulate efforts to interfere in elections without infringing on the rights to free expression.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue is tasked with examining efforts of foreign states like China, India and Russia to interfere in the last two federal elections and in Canada’s democracy.
A final report, which will make recommendations on how to ensure electoral integrity and strengthen democratic institutions, is due by the end of the year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024
SHERBROOKE, Que. – National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will run for mayor of Sherbrooke, Que., in the municipal elections slated for next fall.
The Liberal MP for the Quebec riding of Compton-Stanstead confirmed Monday morning that she will complete her current term in Ottawa, but will not seek re-election.
Bibeau, who has been national revenue minister since July 2023, was first elected in 2015 and has since spent time as minister of agriculture, international development and la Francophonie.
Bibeau said her campaign has not officially begun and she will continue to focus on her work as an MP, but she plans to run as an independent candidate to replace outgoing Mayor Évelyne Beaudin, who has already confirmed she will not seek re-election.
Quebec’s municipal elections are scheduled for Nov. 2, 2025, while the next federal election must take place no later than Oct. 20, though the minority Liberal government could fall before then.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet soon to replace Bibeau and three other ministers who have informed him they don’t plan to run in the next election.
Bibeau’s spouse, Bernard Sévigny, was mayor of Sherbrooke from 2009 to 2017.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
