42
Over fifty interviews were conducted over the two rounds, and particular insights from
interviews are identified by source in the references. All of the interview subjects, except for
one federal policymaker, gave permission for their words to be quoted and their identity to
be revealed.
3
This applies to private acts. Gay male and lesbian sex in baths, bars and public venues is
policed. As Canada was lauded for progress on same sex marriage in 2003, a bath raid in
Calgary and a bar raid in Montreal both resulted in the arrest of gay men as ‘found-ins’ in a
‘bawdy house’ and for ‘indecent acts’ (Gallant 2003; Gallant, 2001).
4
This conclusion is also validated by a reading of the gay press of the period which barely
mentioned the Charter. The Body Politic, Canada’s premier gay liberation publication,
mentioned the Charter twice from 1980-1982.
5
barbara findlay, a Vancouver lawyer, active in lesbian, gay and transgender legal issues,
spells her name without capitals.
6
Egale’s original name was Equality for Lesbians and Gays Everywhere/ Égalité pour les
gais et les lesbiennes. The acronym EGALE means “equality” in French. In 2001, Egale
changed its name from the long form to simply Egale Canada Inc. Egale also has a spin-off
group called Egale Canada Human Rights Trust, which conducts human rights education
work. The latter has charitable status in Canadian tax laws and limits its political activities
accordingly.
7
This is based on personal interviews with some of the litigants and on publicly available
information about their activist careers
.
8
The Western-based right-populist Reform Party was renamed the Canadian Alliance in
2000. Officially, the party’s name is Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, but in everyday
practice, the party uses the name Canadian Alliance.
9
The notwithstanding clause, section 33 of the Charter, allows legislatures, federal or
provincial, to pass legislation notwithstanding sections 2 and 7-15 of the Charter. These
sections include legal and equality rights. The clause has not been used by the federal
government although it has been used from time to time by provincial governments.
Although the clause provides that “legislatures” may declare notwithstanding, it is more
accurate to say that it allows “governments” to decide to opt out of certain Charter
consequences as, in most cases, governments dominate legislatures in federal and provincial
political systems.
10
The Foundation for Equal Families was a spin-off organization of Ontario’s Campaign for
Equal Families, which had lobbied for the passage of a comprehensive same sex relationship
and family recognition bill in Ontario in 1994. While the grass roots Campaign for Equal
Families died off, tellingly, the litigation fund was its legacy. On the 1994 campaign in
Ontario, see Rayside (1998).
Convention