Bill to mark transgender and two-spirit day passed by Manitoba legislature
![trans day of visibility Dozens gather at the Manitoba Legislative Building on March 31, 2024 to bring attention to the Trans and Two-Spirit Day of Visibility (Daniel Halmarson/CTV News).](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/3/31/trans-day-of-visibility-1-6828366-1717096645413.jpg)
There was acrimony in the Manitoba legislature Thursday as politicians passed a bill to designate March 31 an annual day to recognize two-spirit and transgender persons.
The bill to establish Two-Spirit and Transgender Day of Visibility passed a final vote with unanimous support of the governing New Democrats and most of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives in the chamber.
But four Progressive Conservatives voted against the bill, prompting Premier Wab Kinew to accuse them of engaging in "an act of hate."
"No one is asking for you to be gay," Kinew said to Tories across the chamber.
"People are just asking you to recognize the existence, the dignity and the human rights of people in this very chamber," Kinew said, referring to Logan Oxenham, a transgender NDP backbencher who put forward the bill.
NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine called the no votes "disgusting."
One of the Tories who voted no said he is not against a day of recognition.
Konrad Narth said he is against a clause in the bill that says youth have agency over their lives, understand the concepts of gender identity and "appreciate that access to gender-affirming care means better mental health outcomes."
"I have some issue with, (and) constituents that I represent have some issue with, youth and the terminology of youth being able to make the decisions on altering their identity," Narth, who represents the La Verendrye constituency southeast of Winnipeg, told reporters.
Another Tory who voted no, former premier Kelvin Goertzen, expressed a similar concern.
"The Manitoba NDP bill ... contained within it language that expressed support for youth -- often defined as young as 12 or 13 -- to have sex-affirming procedures, medical or otherwise, without any stated limitation to age or parental knowledge," Goertzen said in a statement.
"I believe that this is an important matter of public policy that deserves both study and public input and not to be inserted into the preamble of a bill that otherwise would find support."
Interim Progressive Conservative leader Wayne Ewasko, who voted in favour of the bill, said his caucus members were allowed to vote how they wished. Nine voted to support the bill.
"We had a free vote today and our caucus members respect each other's voices and votes," Ewasko said.
Debate over the bill, which was passed in the morning, spilled into question period in the afternoon. NDP cabinet ministers deflected Tory questions on other topics and instead criticized the no votes.
Some 20 other bills are expected to go to a final vote Monday before the legislature's summer break. One bill would end the province's ban on homegrown recreational cannabis and another would make it easier to seize property from criminals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6942695.1719445747!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
EXCLUSIVE Canadian lawyers play key role in money laundering, says financial intelligence report
A report by Canada's financial watchdog obtained by the Investigative Journalism Foundation working in collaboration with CTV News looked at Canadian lawyers' potential role in money laundering schemes, including those by organized crime groups like biker gangs and drug cartels.
'Hanging on for her life': Sask. family desperate to bring home sick niece from Philippines
For half a decade, a Saskatoon family has been trying to bring their orphaned niece to Canada, they say now it’s a matter of life or death.
Fines related to neighbour's 443 noise complaints at centre of B.C. dispute
A B.C. condo owner who was fined tens of thousands of dollars over hundreds of noise complaints made by his downstairs neighbour was partially successful in having the penalties overturned.
Nunavut judge sentences Toronto woman to 3 years prison for Inuit identity fraud
A Nunavut judge has sentenced a Toronto woman to three years in prison in a case of Inuit identity fraud.
'No additional flights will be cancelled': WestJet avoids strike as feds order binding arbitration
A potential strike by WestJet airplane mechanics would upend travel plans for 250,000 customers over the Canada Day long weekend, the airline says — and cost it millions of dollars.
Canada's top court rejects appeal from Sask. man who murdered wife
The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected an application from a Saskatoon man who murdered his wife.
Where do new Canadians come from? India and Philippines take top spots
Canada has welcomed more than 3.9 million new citizens since 2005, with nearly one third coming from India, the Philippines or China, according to a CTVNews.ca analysis.
Man charged with threatening to kill presidential candidates found dead as jury was deciding verdict
A New Hampshire man charged with threatening the lives of presidential candidates last year has been found dead while a jury was deciding his verdict, according to court filings Thursday.
WATCH Massive sinkhole swallows part of soccer field in Illinois
A 30-metre-wide sinkhole, caused by a nearby mine collapsing, swallowed part of a soccer field in Alton, Ill., on Wednesday.