Canadian Immigration Minister pulled gay rights from citizenship guide, documents show

[Newsjock]

Source: Canadian Press

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney blocked any reference to gay rights in a new study guide for immigrants applying for Canadian citizenship, The Canadian Press has learned.

Internal documents show an early draft of the guide contained sections noting that homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969; that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation; and that same-sex marriage was legalized nationally in 2005.

But Mr. Kenney, who fought same-sex marriage when it was debated in Parliament, ordered those key sections removed when his office sent its comments to the department last June.

... And last year, Mr. Kenney appointed a longtime Conservative who opposes same-sex marriage to the Immigration and Refugee Board, which among other things makes decisions about whether gays can be given refugee status in Canada.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/immigration-minister-pulled-gay-rights-from-citizenship-guide-documents-show/article1486935/

[Dappleganger]

1. Oh, Canada...

what the fuck?

[PDJane]

2. We have a Bush clone

as a PM who is using every trick he can find to keep power. I despise that man, and want him OUT.......but he comes across well on teevee for the really unthinking of the population.

[alp227]

3. Why is such a bigot even in such a high-ranking position?

Fire that bastard. Sheesh, homophobia still creeps in the Canadian government that's been tolerant of marriage equality for like 5 years now (and during lunch breaks, the Canadian Parliament members enjoy trash-talking us bigoted Americans...oh now that Canada beat the US in hockey and got the gold, the Canadian politicians have more anti-American office gossip...)

[HeresyLives]

4. He's gay himself, that's the puzzle.

There are several gay Conservative MPs, they just aren't 'out'...at least in public, and this guy is one of them.

Moreover he's after the PMs job.

[FreeState]

7. Is that just a rumour or well known? N/t

[HeresyLives]

8. Everyone in the gay community knows it,

and most hets have guessed, but he hasn't publically said anything.

John Baird, Minister of Transport, was outted by a Con collegue a couple of weeks ago...no one was surprised, nor did anybody say anything.

Nobody, other than Cons...care.

[Posteritatis]

9. Because another bigot appointed him

The conservatives fought a federal election campaign primarily on "o noes teh ghey!" after all.

[applegrove]

5. These neocons in Ottawa depress me so. Why do we have to go

through the same shit you in the USA have gone through. Isn't it enough that we in Ontario went through it with Mike Harris in the 1990s? Should we not all have learnt from these sorry events?

[HeresyLives]

6. People didn't see any other option.

Cons are very effective at trashing others, and that's what they did...to Martin, Dion and now Ignatieff.

Cons lie to people, and people buy it...because they want to.