By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives November 30, 2017
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“The money will be paid out as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement to employees who were investigated, sanctioned and sometimes fired as part of the so-called gay purge. “An agreement in principle in the court action emerged Friday, just days before the government delivers a sweeping apology for discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community."Shouldn’t that be the LGBT2SQIA+ community?
“Details of the agreement must still be worked out by the parties and approved by the Federal Court, but it's expected that several thousand people will be eligible for the financial compensation.” (CBC)
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will deliver the apology — which is expected to surpass what other countries have done to make amends to LGBTQ people — in the House of Commons following question period on Tuesday. (CBC) “Among apology-related initiatives, the government is putting $250,000 toward community projects to combat homophobia and provide support for people in crisis. “In addition, it plans a commemoration in 2019 of the 50th anniversary of the federal decriminalization of homosexual acts. “The government also plans to table legislation Tuesday to expunge the criminal records of people convicted of consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners, whether in civilian or military courts. “The process will involve making an application for expungement and requests may be submitted on behalf of deceased people who were convicted.”
“The 41 questions appear to specifically target Muslims, as no other religious practices are mentioned, nor terrorist groups with non-Muslim members. “Refugee lawyers representing the more than 12,000 men, women and children who have crossed from New York this year at the informal crossing on Roxham Rd., near the Quebec town of Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, have heard stories of profiling, but it wasn’t until a client of Toronto lawyer Clifford McCarten was given his own questionnaire last month — seemingly by mistake — that there was proof of the practice. “RCMP spokesperson Annie Delisle told the Star Wednesday that these questions were part of an “interview guide” that was used by officers in Quebec.
“Due to the high volume of irregular migrants in Quebec, an interview guide was developed as an operation tool to streamline processing and provide consistency in the RCMP’s preliminary risk assessments,” Delisle wrote in an email to the Star. “Answers from the questionnaire were entered into RCMP databases, Delisle wrote. That information could then be shared with the Canada Border Services Agency or other security partners “in accordance with Canadian legislation,” she wrote. “Scott Bardsley, spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, told the Star Wednesday afternoon that the RCMP has suspended use of “that version” of the guide. “The minute we became aware of the interview guide, we were immediately concerned and contacted the RCMP,”
“But civil rights advocates, refugee lawyers and Muslim leaders said the document highlights the larger problem that Canada’s security services disproportionately target Muslims.” (Star)If the RCMP were asking too many questions in screening border crossers, the government was spending its time calling for tenders on high-end trailers which the new Canadians can call home during bitterly cold Canadian winters. No, sexual harassers are not dominating the news in Canada, homophobes and Islamophobes are. You can’t make this stuff up. Unless that is, you are the leader of a Liberal Party elected in part by the top stars of ex-president Barack Obama’s Election Team.
Copyright © Canada Free Press
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.