PETITION CLOSED

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Demand Canadian Immigration Minister Apologize for Censoring LGBT Information
  1. Signatures
    303 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism (Jason Kenney)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter

Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism has decided to edit information pertaining to gay rights and gay history from important legal documents distributed to immigrants in Canada. These documents are supposed to give individuals applying for Canadian citizenship a sense of Canadian law. But Minister Kenney has decided to edit out certain legal facts -- including the fact that Canada has decriminalized homosexuality, and that gay and lesbian couples can get married in Canada -- simply because he frowns upon homosexuality.

Government ministers should not be in the business of interpreting laws based on their own personal beliefs. As Canadian Member of Parliament Scott Brison said, "It's becoming very clear that Minister Kenney never intended this to be a Canadian citizenship guide but instead a Conservative citizenship guide."

That's outrageous. Folks looking to become citizens should know basic legal facts about the gay and lesbian community in Canada. Whitewashing this information is an affront to Canada's gay and lesbian community, and an affront to immigrants who might identify as LGBT. Minister Kenney should hear loud and clear from activists that his personal politics do not belong in legal documents being given to immigrants in Canada.

Recent Signatures

Stop Censoring Information About Gay Rights in Canada

Minister Kenney,

The Canadian Press has reported that your office has purposely edited out information pertaining to gay rights in Canada from legal documents given to immigrants. The censored information, which includes facts pertaining to when homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada and the fact that Canadian gay and lesbian couples are legally allowed to marry, is sound legal fact that should be communicated to all those applying for Canadian citizenship.

Yet, your office has chosen to exclude this information from legal documents. You may not personally agree with the advances in gay rights that have been made in Canada, as evidenced by your past support for legislation that would rescind marriage rights for Canadian gay and lesbian couples. But your job as Minister is not to interpret law based on your own personal beliefs. Your job is to make sure that all immigrants have the necessary information they need in order to be informed citizens.

Your office must correct this mistake. It's an affront to the gay and lesbian population in Canada to exclude information pertaining to gay rights history. The fact that you've personally edited this information out of immigration study guides also damages the reputation of Canada and your government. How can your office be trusted, when personal edits are being made to government documents?

I urge you to republish these government materials with the necessary information in them pertaining to gay rights history and law in Canada.

Thank you.

[Your name]

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