Burnaby NowSiksay's bill is back NDP bill calls for protection for transgender and transsexual people By Jennifer Moreau, Burnaby Now June 27, 2012
http://www.burnabynow.com/life/Siksay+bill+back/6846928/story.html A private member's bill with roots in Burnaby on transgender and transsexual rights has risen again in Parliament.
The NDP's Randall Garrison, from the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding, resurrected a bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. It would also change the Criminal Code of Canada to cover hate speech against transgender and transsexual people.
Former Burnaby MP Bill Siksay was the first to introduce previous incarnations of the bill in Parliament, but most reached first-reading stage only. Before Siksay retired from politics in 2011, he almost saw the bill become law when it passed third reading, but it died on paper at the Senate stage when the last federal election was called.
