Victims of gay ‘purge’ could get up to $50K
OTTAWA • The Liberal government is prepared to pay out up to $50,000 to anyone who was ousted from the military or federal public service because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, according to the agreement in principle reached in a classaction lawsuit.
There could be up to another $100,000 for anyone with lasting and severe psychological harm from physical or sexual assault as a result of the process of being investigated, sanctioned or dismissed.
The minimum amount anyone would receive is $5,000 for such things as being questioned, denied a promotion or facing targeted harassment from their superiors, with the total amount of compensation to be capped at $110 million.
The details of the settlement, which must still be finalized and approved by the Federal Court, come the day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology in the House of Commons for past statesanctioned discrimination against LGBTQ people in Canada.
There would be another $15 million set aside for reconciliation and memorialization measures related to how LGBTQ federal employees were treated by the government for decades, even after homosexual acts were decriminalized in 1969.
That could include a travelling museum exhibit, a national monument in Ottawa and a panel set up to figure out how to spend the rest, such as on academic endowments and public education.
Trudeau’s apology on Tuesday was welcomed by those in the LGBTQ community, but some advocates said the Liberal government could be doing more to stop such state-sanctioned discrimination from happening now.
“I think there’s a lot of work to do,” said Gary Lacasse, executive director of the Canadian AIDS Society. “We do believe that the apology was a step in the right direction, but it does not mend all the fences.”
Trudeau acknowledged as much during his speech, referring to remaining restrictions on sexually active gay men donating blood and the ongoing criminalization of those who do not disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners, even if there is no virus transmission.
“The government must continue to work with its partners to improve policies and programs,” Trudeau said.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that consent to sexual activity can be considered null and void if the accused person failed to disclose, or lied about, his or her HIV status.
Advocates, who argue the law has fallen far behind the science on the level of risk, were buoyed last year when Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould promised to examine the issue.