Ottawa Centre queer debate
ONTARIO ELECTION / Stances on gender identity and harm reduction show clear division between candidates
Brent Creelman / Ottawa / Sunday, September 16, 2007
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QUEER DEBATE. Will Murray (NDP), Yasir Naqvi (Liberal), and Trina Morissette (PC) answered questions from the audience during the three-hour debate.
(Xtra.ca photo)
Ottawa Centre provincial election candidates debated queer issues at a forum on Sep 14 organized by Capital Xtra, Egale and Capital Pride.

Audience members and event organizers questioned the candidates on a variety of queer issues, including trans rights, harm reduction and funding of religious schools.

Trans activist Shannon Blatt asked the three candidates if they would sign a petition to add gender identity to the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Trina Morissette, the PC candidate, did not sign Blatt's petition.

"I can't sign something I don't have all the information on. You come to my office — I will be more than happy to go over this with you," she said.

Will Murray, the NDP candidate, had previously signed the petition. Yasir Naqvi, the Liberal candidate, signed the petition at the debate.

When asked for a 'yes' or 'no' if they would support the provincial government in forcing Ontario's largest cities to provide crack-pipe programs, both Murray and Naqvi said they would.

"This is not a crime prevention issue — this is a public health issue, this is a harm reduction issue. We need to make sure these kinds of programs continue," said Naqvi.

Morissette said she could not say yes or no to the question. "I believe it's a municipal issue," she said.

"We have people walking around downtown Ottawa — either mental illness, prostitutes, drug addicts — we need to deal with that specific problem. It's not an additional crack-pipe that's going to get them off the drugs, it's the treatment," said Morissette.

Check out Xtra.ca's video report below:
Can't see the video player above?
Watch the video on Xtra.ca's YouTube page.


Check out the Sep 27 issue of Capital Xtra for interviews with the Liberal, PC, NDP and Green candidates.
Ontario provincial election and referendum.
Voting day: Oct 10.


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Reader Comments


 
Where was the Green candidate?
Greg Laxton is the Green Party candidate for Ottawa Centre. On his web page (www.greglaxton.ca), it says Capital Xtra excluded Laxton because they wanted the debate to be "efficient".

In the 2003 election, the Green candidate for Ottawa Centre finished fourth with 3,821 votes (7.75%). That was the highest vote percentage of any Green Party candidate in the province suggesting that, more than anywhere else in Ontario, Ottawa Centre voters are interested to hear what the Green Party has to say.

It seems an unfortunate choice on the part of the organizers to exclude Greg Laxton from this debate.

Nicholas Little, Ottawa ON
09/17/07 4:34 AM EST
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Green Party proud of its queer policies
I applaud Capital Xtra, Egale and Capital Pride for organizing a debate surrounding LBGTQ issues in Ottawa. LBGTQ issues are too often ignored by politicians. Unfortunately, organizers did not invite the Green Party candidate, Greg Laxton, to the debate. The Green Party has some excellent issues pertaining to LBGTQ issues, and a history of standing up for these issues long before they are even considered by mainstream parties (eg- the Green Party of Canada was the first federal party to endorse same-sex marriage, in 1996). But I am biased, being a Green myself. So I urge you to judge for yourself. Read about Green LBGTQ policies at http://www.ottawagreens.ca/ottawacentre/?p=183. Further, read about our provincial party's support for harm reduction programs including Ottawa's Safer Inhalation Program at http://www.ottawagreens.ca/ottawacentre/?p=181. LBGTQ issues (which are often human rights issues) have been ignored by media and politicians for too long. Trust me, us Greens know the feeling.
Jay Fitzsimmons, Ottawa Ontario
09/20/07 2:58 PM EST
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Some explanation
The organizers (Egale, Capital Pride and Capital Xtra) made the decision to invite the top three candidates. This decision was partly based on audience feedback from previous queer debates which suggested people only wanted three candidates to speak, not four.
Brent Creelman (Xtra.ca editor), Ottawa Ontario
09/25/07 9:41 AM EST
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Green policies incomplete
I think the TBQLG policies and past actions listed at the URL given by Greg Laxton are excellent, however they are rather incomplete when it comes to some basic issues being pursued by trans people.

It would be great to see a committment to:

i.) amending the Ontario Human Rights Code to add "gender identity" as a prohibited ground of discrimination;

ii.) amending the Vital Statistics Act to permit changes to birth certificates without a surgical requirement;

iii.) reinstating OHIP coverage for sex reassignment surgery and other critical trans health procedures.

Can trans people count on the Green Party's support on these issues?

Are you in a position to reply, Greg?

Shannon Blatt, Ottawa Ontario
09/25/07 11:13 AM EST
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GREEN PARTY WEBSITE INACCURACIES
At the last federal candidate's debate for Ottawa Centre riding, four candidates were present. The queer voters at the debate did not get through all their questions because of the time taken up by each of the candidates answering questions.

Organizers had a lot of feedback from the community asking that the number of candidates be limited for future debates. That's why Capital Xtra, Egale Canada and Capital Pride invited three candidates this time round. Contrary to misinformation on the Green Party website, organizers do not apologize for this.

I think the issue here is that for a Queer Issues debate with candidates, the audience is less interested in hearing what each candidate thinks than are those at most all-candidates debates. Instead, they seem to want to educate the candidates most likely to win about queer issues and what they — the queer voter — thinks about the issues.

It's interesting to note that only two people in the audience at the recent provincial debate asked that the Greens be invited to participate next time. This contrasts with the many more who asked after the federal debate that the number of candidates be reduced to three.

Though the Green Party has singled out Capital Xtra, this issue is not about us. I would note, for example, that the paper interviewed four local candidates for our own Candidate Questionnaire. I would also note that we have not forgotten that when city hall tried to ban Capital Xtra from public spaces, it was the local Green Party riding association and also NDP candidate Will Murray who spoke up publicly in defence of our reader's rights to access their community paper in public spaces.

Meanwhile, the Greens should have the integrity to make their website accurate.

Gareth Kirkby, Ottawa Ontario
09/26/07 7:13 PM EST
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re: Green policies incomplete
Shannon,
Thank you for your question, and yes, I can respond. Trans people can depend on the Green Party for complete support. We would amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to add "gender identity" as a prohibited ground for discrimination. We would amend the Vital Statistics Act to permit changes to birth certificates without a surgical requirement. We would reinstate OHIP coverage for sex reassignment surgery. Thanks again for you important questions.
Greg Laxton, Ottawa Ontario
10/08/07 11:58 PM EST
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