Culture News Blog

A new Canadian official finds himself charged with restoring trust between the country’s LGBT community and the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

Canadian gay news resource Xtra.ca reported that Lindsay Blackett, who has taken the position of Culture and Community Spirit Minister, will need to address the AHRC’s perceived dysfunction with regards to LGBT issues.

Said one recent complainant whose settlement with the AHRC and his former employer meant that he could only be identified under a pseudonym, "I felt the current set-up forces sides to be hostile towards each other."

The current process, added the complainant, who was identified by the name Jim Smith, "is a ’I am right and you are wrong’ approach.

"My former employer, their staff and myself would have been far better served if there was a process for us to work together, rather than seek ways to discredit each other," Smith continued.

Blackett said he means to straighten out the AHRC, but he asks for time and forbearance from GLBT Albertans.

"I don’t want to foist it on anybody," Blackett was quoted as saying.

Blackett also reportedly told the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "You’re looking at all aspects, you’re not just going to look at one section."

"You don’t simply just add a piece that says we won’t discriminate based on sexual orientation."

Added Blackett, "We have to consult and allow others to talk about all the other different sections in it as well."

As a candidate for the post a few months ago, Blackett presented himself with vigor, saying, "Human rights commissions are being assailed across Canada, because there’s a belief that they are not fulfilling the mandate they are given."

At the same time, Blackett doesn’t wish to charge into the fray in a way that will alienate officials and constituents. Even though ten years have passed since a court ruling mandated that provincial governments enforce ant-discrimination laws that protect GLBT Canadians, Alberta remains the one province where such laws, specific to the GLBT community, remain unpassed.

Gay equality advocates have grown weary and skeptical about the AHRC during the interim, though commission officials have begun to treat GLBT complaints as though they did possess official provisions under law. Of last year’s 659 complaints, a mere 2 percent involved sexual orientation, Xtra.ca reported.

Wells maintains that the low number of complaints based on claims of discrimination due to sexual orientation stem from the GLBT community’s lack of confidence that the AHRC can, or wishes to, address their needs.

"Statistically, the LGBT community isn’t using the commission and I think that is the legacy of not having sexual orientation written in because they realize the political will isn’t there."

Anthea Black, an Alberta artist and writer, was quoted in the Xtra.ca article as saying, "Healing needs to happen between the Alberta government and the queer community."

Continued Black, "The Alberta Government bullied the queer community in Klein’s time. With a new premier and Blackett in place now is a time rectify those wrongs."

Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.

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