Green Party MP Elizabeth May has sponsored a citizen petition calling on Parliament to recognize what it describes as a “genocide” against sexual minorities in Canadia — a claim that has stirred controversy but was not addressed directly by May during her first remarks to the 45th Parliament.Blacklock's Reporter says the petition, officially listed as E-4697, states that the rights of sexual minority Canadians are under threat and urges lawmakers to declare any attempt to remove federal protections as genocidal. “The human rights of the Canadian LGBTQ community are endangered,” reads the preamble. It argues that efforts to diminish the community through legal means should be considered illegal and classified as genocide.Despite backing the petition, May made no mention of it in her speech to Parliament, instead thanking voters in her Saanich–Gulf Islands riding for re-electing her. “It is the honour of my life to do so,” said May. “I am extremely grateful.”The petition does not cite any specific acts of violence or state-led targeting that would traditionally meet the legal definition of genocide under international law. Instead, it focuses on legal and political mechanisms such as the Charter’s notwithstanding clause, which it claims allow governments to override sexual minority rights.The clause — Section 33 — permits Parliament or provincial legislatures to temporarily suspend certain rights guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was most recently used by Saskatchewan’s government in 2023 when it passed Bill 137. That legislation required parental consent before schools could acknowledge a student’s preferred name or gender identity and mandated parental notification for lessons on sexual health.According to the 2021 Census, 0.3% of Canadians — roughly 100,815 individuals — identify as transgender or non-binary. “Canada is the first country to collect and publish data on gender diversity from a national Census,” noted a Statistics Canada report.A 2023 focus group study by the Privy Council Office found that many Canadians are confused by terms such as “two-spirited,” a term used to describe gender-diverse or gay indigenous people. “A large portion of Canadians did not understand what this term represented,” the report said.
