VANCOUVER – The Canadian citizenship guide has been updated to include the fact that Canada upholds gay and lesbian rights.
People hoping to become Canadian citizens will now learn that, but they won’t get much more information, as history about gay rights milestones and the same-sex marriage law has been removed from the guide, despite inclusion in an earlier draft.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney showed off the guide to new citizens recently in Vancouver, but said he didn’t personally order the information removed.
CTV News reported, “The latest version acknowledges gay rights in Canada, but still doesn’t outline how those relatively recent rights came about. It simply says: ‘Canada’s diversity includes gay and lesbian Canadians, who enjoy the full protection of and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage.’”
Kenney said the guide should be praised for having any mention of gay rights, given that the guide published under the Liberal government did not include anything on the subject.
Other new additions to the booklet include the addition of forced marriage to a list of gender-based crimes that aren’t tolerated in Canada, and a paragraph that says, “violent, extreme or hateful prejudices are not tolerated in Canada.”
The study guide was last updated 15 years ago.
