The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate stated that Parliament is accommodating transgender visitors by requiring the installation of washrooms that are not gender-specific, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.. Sen. Donald PlettSen. Donald Plett .“Why don’t we call a spade a spade?” Sen. Donald Plett (MB) told the Senate Internal Economy committee..“We are trying to sugarcoat and skirt around the problem we have here,” said Plett. .“This all has to do with one issue and that is the gender issue.”.“That is the one and only reason we are doing it,” said Plett. .“Let’s at least have the courage to admit that’s what we’re doing, that we’re catering to a group of people who say, ‘I want to go into a washroom I don’t belong in.’”.Parliament's Centre Block, which includes the famous Peace Tower, was closed for renovations in 2019 and is expected to remain closed for a decade. .Recently, the department of Public Works proposed installing non-gender "self-contained washrooms" in the renovated building, but Plett raised objections to this plan..“Why don’t we call a spade a spade every so often instead of skirting around issues?” asked Plett. .“For the life of me, I can’t understand why we have to call a washroom a ‘self-contained washroom.’”.“The last suggestion was, well, let’s call it a non-gender washroom which was suggested by the department of Public Works,” said Plett. .“Then I don’t have a washroom to go to if it is non-gender because I have a gender.”.Census data indicate that 00.3% of Canadians, 100,815 of 30,500,000 people, identify as transgender or non-binary. .“Canada is the first country to collect and publish data on gender diversity from a national Census,” Statistics Canada wrote in a 2022 report Filling Gaps in Gender Diversity in Canada..According to Sen. Scott Tannas (AB), who chairs the Senate Building Renovations subcommittee, the decision to install non-gender washrooms was made to ensure that all visitors have access to washrooms regardless of their gender..The House of Commons agreed to “use the term ‘self-contained washroom unit’ for washrooms that can be used by all persons,” said Tannas..“After thinking about what the potential alternatives were, including what was called ‘inclusive washrooms’ which is everybody in the same washroom, ‘exclusive washrooms’ where its boys and girls, or what happens in your neighbourhood Starbucks or on the main floor of most people’s houses or in an airplane where you actually have a ‘self-contained washroom,’ then we got around all the issues,” said Senator Tannas..The Senate consulted “some experts” on the washroom issue, said Tannas. He did name them..“On the matter of the washrooms, thumbs-up,” said Sen. Andrew Cardozo (ON). .“Thanks for doing that work on it.”
