Manitoba PCs Call for Changes to Bill Adding Gender Expression to Human Rights Code

People walk on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg, in a file photo. The Canadian Press/John Woods

A bill to add gender expression to the Manitoba Human Rights Code could infringe on free speech and requires changes and clarification on its parameters, the Opposition PC Party says.

Bill 43, known as The Human Rights Code Amendment Act, aims to add gender expression to section 9, which defines characteristics protected from discrimination.

Manitoba’s NDP has a majority government and the bill is expected to pass this spring. The party has said the changes would put Manitoba’s Code in line with other provinces.

Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the amendment would offer protections for people who want to be called by their preferred pronouns and would apply to areas like employment, housing, and accessing public services.

“This bill in no way polices thoughts or beliefs,” Wiebe said during a public hearing over the bill.

“This really is about protecting against discrimination based on gender expression which might cause someone to lose their job, or be denied an apartment, or be denied services that are public.”

PC Party Leader Obby Khan is expressing concern that the amendments could infringe on free speech. He said the bill needs to clarify what would prompt a complaint to the human rights commission.

“What is the standard or threshold to file a complaint? What does that look like? The minister has been very vague on that,” Khan told reporters on May 6.

Two public hearings have been held with residents turning out to speak both for and against the proposed change.

Pastor Derek deVries, from Winnipeg’s Park City Gospel Church argued the bill would force Christians to violate their beliefs.

“This (proposed) law forbids Christians from following Christ’s example. It requires speech he would not permit,” deVries told a legislature committee during an April hearing about the bill.

The executive director of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, Karen Sharma, said the Code did not apply to private interactions or inside religious institutions, but rather to places of employment, housing and other services. She said it is not likely to apply to issues of gender pronouns.

“I think it’s important to note that the cases that have gone to human rights tribunals and have been found to be discriminatory are cases of sort of malicious, repetitive misgendering,” she said.

Manitoba’s move coincides with a court case initiated by the LGBT support organization UR Pride against Saskatchewan, concerning the province’s pronoun policy that requires schools to acquire parental approval before allowing students younger than 16 to modify their names and pronouns.

Alberta has passed a similar law mandating that schools obtain parental consent before altering a child’s pronouns for those under the age of 16.

The Canadian Press contributed to this article.