A View from Canada
by Elizabeth May, O.C., leader of the Green Party of Canada
I write this on the train back to Ottawa after marching in Canada’s largest Pride Parade in Toronto. It was certainly a zillion times bigger than the march in Pictou, Nova Scotia, on the Victoria Day long weekend, in which about twenty of us walked through the rain to city hall with the rainbow banner and flag held high. But the spirit in both was the same—celebratory and confident in declaring Canada a nation where rights are respected and people embrace despite their differences.
My daughter had marched with me in both, and we decided the T-shirt for us would be the “Straight, Not Narrow” ones we saw on fellow marchers today in Toronto. Pride events are festivals that really reflect our rainbow of humanity.
Of course, all the primary colours are found in that rainbow prism, even if some colours (Conservative blue, for example) give the marches a miss. Our emblematic Green Party colours have always belonged in that Rainbow. We are the only federal political party to have ever been led by an openly gay leader, Chris Lea. In 1996 the Green Party of Canada became the first federal party to officially support the inclusion of same-sex couples in civil marriage.
Canadians believe in freedom from discrimination. This includes people having the right to live their lives without being discriminated against for their race, creed, ethnic background, political beliefs, or sexual orientation. A majority of Canadians applaud the fact that Canada was one of the first countries to sanction same-sex marriage. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Laws now does a reasonable job of prohibiting discrimination. However, we must be vigilant to ensure these laws are respected in practice and delivery.
Our vision is of a world free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, a world in which difference is accepted and even celebrated.
To get there from here we will continue to march. Beyond Pride events and festivities, we need changes in our laws. We need to ensure that human rights are expanded to clearly include rights for transgender Canadians and to ensure that discrimination based on sexual orientation ends not only in law but in practice. We need to do far more for our elderly brothers and sisters who need consideration in their retirement and homes for the aged. And at the other end of the spectrum, we must ensure a large welcome for young people as they self-identify and need support.
The world has changed for the better, but the work is not yet done. We are all alike in our humanity. We all stand vulnerable on a vulnerable planet. Only by working together can we protect the meaning of that rainbow—that covenant for survival that arches in its miraculous colours over a troubled world.
