Human rights code changes will apply on reserve: justice minister
OTTAWA — Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould — a former First Nations leader — says a proposed government bill that changes the human rights code will apply on reserves, adding she hopes individuals will see that it provides additional legal protections in the face of discrimination.
Wilson-Raybould’s comments come after experts spoke publicly to The Canadian Press about the link between the indigenous suicide crisis and discrimination against people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender or two-spirit.
Some indigenous people, such as Ojibwa-Cree elder Ma-Nee Chacaby, use the term two-spirit to describe carrying a male and female spirit in their bodies at the same time and note the identity was traditionally viewed as sacred.
Chacaby, who came out in 1988, said she was bullied and beaten for her identity, both by other First Nations people as well as non-indigenous people.