The Past And The Present

From the BBC:

"Trudeau apologises for Canada's discrimination against LGBT people"

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologised for historical injustices against the LGBT community. During the Cold War, hundreds of gay men and women were fired from their government jobs and the military. The government has earmarked C$100m ($78m, £58m) to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by LGBT victims. Mr Trudeau has also proposed a bill in parliament that would allow the courts to expunge the records of people criminalised for their sexuality. "It is with shame and sorrow and deep regret for the things we have done that I stand here today and say: We were wrong. We apologise. I am sorry. We are sorry," he said in the House of Commons on Tuesday.  Mr Trudeau's words were greeted by a warm round of applause from all parties. The prime minister also spoke out about past discrimination against gay marriage and gay works of art, which were often banned as "obscene". "While we may regard modern Canada as a forward-thinking and progressive nation, we cannot forget our past," he said. During the Cold War, the Canadian government and military regarded gay employees as more vulnerable to blackmail by Soviet agents. They were interrogated about their sex life and forced to inform on their friends. Mr Trudeau called it "nothing short of a witch-hunt."   The Canadian military ended discriminatory policies against gay men and women in 1992 after Michelle Douglas, a former Army officer, sued the government.  Four years later, the Canadian Human Rights Act was amended to include sexual orientation. Gender identity and gender orientation were added in 2017. Mr Trudeau also said Canada must do more to end homophobia and discrimination, such as bans on gay men giving blood and the continued criminalisation of people who do not disclose their HIV status. "We are all worthy of love. Whether you discover who you are at six, 16 or 60, we are all valid," he said.  This is not Mr Trudeau's first state apology as prime minister. On Friday, he apologised to indigenous victims of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.  In 2016, he apologised for the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, when Canada turned away hundreds of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim passengers trying to emigrate from British-ruled India.

^ As an American-Canadian I know that the majority of Canadians think of themselves as "not American" and that tends to make them more moral or right  - especially around the world. Canada and the US have similar histories in terms of discrimination of minority groups. Both countries discriminated against: Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, homosexuals, women, Jews and Catholics. Canada didn't have full control over it's own laws until 1982 (before then the UK had to agree) whereas the US has had full control since 1776, but they have always had control over their own social attitudes as every person in the world does and that attitude tended to follow the international "trend" of not liking anything that wasn't an Anglo-Saxon White Heterosexual Protestant Man. While I think it is right for Canada (and every country) to openly admit the mistakes of their past the way Trudeau has recently done Canadians (and other nationalities) need to know that these are not simply "historical" problems. Sometimes they are current ones too. Canada (along with the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the other Commonwealth Realm countries) continue to officially and openly discriminate against non-Protestants at the highest level. Only a Protestant can be the Monarch of Canada (and the UK, etc.) That law basically says that there is no real freedom of religion because Protestants are deemed better at being King or Queen than a Catholic, a Jew. an atheist, etc. So while Canada has come a long way from its troubled past - the way the US has too - Canada continues to officially discriminate against minorities and until that changes Canadians may think they are more "moral" than Americans, but maybe they are the same if not worse since the United States has had Protestants and Catholics as their Head Of Government with no official law saying other religions can't also become one. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42157806