“We betrayed you. And we are so sorry.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon and apologized to countless LGBTQ2 people “branded criminals by the government.”
“Today, we finally talk about Canada’s role in the systemic oppression, criminalization, and violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit communities,” the Canadian Prime Minister told lawmakers in an internationally broadcast address. CTV and The National Post have the prime minister’s full remarks.
“Our laws made private and consensual sex between same-sex partners a criminal offense, leading to the unjust arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of Canadians. This criminalization would have lasting impacts for things like employment, volunteering, and travel,” said an at times visibly tearful Trudeau.Â
“Those arrested and charged were purposefully and vindictively shamed. Their names appeared in newspapers in order to humiliate them, and their families,” he continued. “Lives were destroyed. And tragically, lives were lost.”
Trudeau called it “a purge that lasted decades,” which “will forever remain a tragic act of discrimination suffered by Canadian citizens at the hands of their own government.”
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, the government of Canada exercised its authority in a cruel and unjust manner, undertaking a campaign of oppression against members, and suspected members, of the LGBTQ2 communities.
The goal was to identify these workers throughout the public service, including the foreign service, the military, and the RCMP, and persecute them.
Trudeau noted that “what resulted was nothing short of a witch-hunt.”
The public service, the military, and the RCMP spied on their own people, inside and outside of the workplaces. Canadians were monitored for anything that could be construed as homosexual behaviour, with community groups, bars, parks, and even people’s homes constantly under watch.
During this time, the federal government even dedicated funding to an absurd device known as the Fruit Machine — a failed technology that was supposed to measure homosexual attraction.
When the government felt that enough evidence had accumulated, some suspects were taken to secret locations in the dark of night to be interrogated.
They were asked invasive questions about their relationships and sexual preferences. Hooked up to polygraph machines, these law-abiding public servants had the most intimate details of their lives cut open.
And in a stunning moment, Trudeau said:
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 apologize. I am sorry. We are sorry.
For state-sponsored, systemic oppression and rejection, we are sorry.
For suppressing two-spirit Indigenous values and beliefs, we are sorry.
For abusing the power of the law, and making criminals of citizens, we are sorry. …
To all the LGBTQ2 people across this country who we have harmed in countless ways, we are sorry.
To those who were left broken by a prejudiced system;
And to those who took their own lives — we failed you.
For stripping you of your dignity;
For robbing you of your potential;
For treating you like you were dangerous, indecent, and flawed;
We are sorry.
To the victims of the purge, who were surveilled, interrogated, and abused;
Who were forced to turn on their friends and colleagues;
Who lost wages, lost health, and lost loved ones;
We betrayed you. And we are so sorry.
To those who were fired, to those who resigned, and to those who stayed at a great personal and professional cost;
To those who wanted to serve, but never got the chance to because of who you are — you should have been permitted to serve your country, and you were stripped of that option.
We are sorry. We were wrong.
Indeed, all Canadians missed out on the important contributions you could have made to our society.
You were not bad soldiers, sailors, airmen and women. You were not predators. And you were not criminals.
You served your country with integrity, and veterans you are.
You are professionals. You are patriots. And above all, you are innocent. And for all your suffering, you deserve justice, and you deserve peace.
It is our collective shame that you were so mistreated. And it is our collective shame that this apology took so long — many who suffered are no longer alive to hear these words. And for that, we are truly sorry.
To the loved ones of those who suffered;
To the partners, families, and friends of the people we harmed;
For upending your lives, and for causing you such irreparable pain and grief — we are sorry.
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