The passage of Bill C-16 was an incredible moment that was celebrated by queer and trans people across this country. I think that we have seen improvements in terms of acceptance, inclusion and equality since that change.
When it comes to hate speech laws, I would say that I am not a lawyer, and I'm not going to imagine that I have the legal expertise to assess what does or doesn't constitute hate speech. What I would say, rather, is that I think there is dangerous speech in our social and political environment and that this is becoming more normalized. That's harder to manage when it's not a politician, a public figure or a far-right figurehead explicitly engaging in hate but when they're creating a culture where that hate is more normalized, where the environment is poisoned against members of certain communities.
That is the space where we need moral leadership from our politicians, from our political party leaders, to actually choose to unite Canadians, to protect these fundamental rights and to understand that what's at stake here isn't just one community. I'm here to support the rights of trans and queer people, but I also fundamentally believe that Canada is a better place when we respect our neighbours and see their humanity, even if their lives and families look different from ours. I think that's fundamentally what's at stake here.
Yes, there might be some space to strengthen hate speech laws, but it's the moral leadership that we need in this moment from our members of Parliament.