Conversation

For those who remember, about two years ago I put up a petition to the Government of Canada, which received 167k signatures, the third-highest total in Canadian parliamentary history. That petition requested that the government recognise the risk to trans people of the hate legislation being passed around the US and UK, and be willing to accept asylum requests from those countries.

They responded with indifference, saying that the US and UK were "safe third countries", and thus ineligible for refugee claims.

In the last couple of weeks, trans activist Fae Johnstone's Momentum Canada have started a new petition, not a governmental one this time (https://www.momentumcanada.net/pathways), requesting the same accommodation.

I wanted to say that we have once again a champion for that request, in the form of the great ally to our community, Mike Morrice of the Green Party. He spoke movingly in Parliament last time about the need for this move to be made, and I worked with him to try and lobby on Parliament Hill, without success.

For Canadians, I want to recommend you consider sending this petition link to your Member of Parliament. If they're supportive, they'll pass it on, and if they're not, they'll at least know we're coming in big numbers, and most importantly that YES, they do have trans-friendly constituents.

I'll be meeting with Mike next week to discuss next steps, but I wanted to give heads-up to those in the US feeling the fear: we're still fighting for your refuge here. Hold on to your hope. We'll exhaust every possibility.

This tool: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search

...will help you find your MP's contact information. Please be polite but firm in expressing your fears for our community members to the south, even if they're Tories. The more of us do this, if we can get it happening in every riding in the country, it could be very powerful.

#CanPol #TransAsylumNow