There's an argument to be made that it is a large degree when you talk about it as a basis for prohibited grounds, but it has little meaning beyond a kind of internal understanding of something that has happened. I think that's one of the reasons my constituents are concerned about the legislation and one of the reasons we need to take another look at this bill and this definition. It does not seem to address adequately what Canadians would like to see in their legislation.
I understand that Mr. Garrison would like to see this pass, but I'm concerned when I read that his interest is in getting it passed so that the tribunals and the courts themselves can define it. I think that's the job of Parliament, and if we're not able to adequately define this, we shouldn't be passing the legislation, because we're not doing the job we need to do here.
I'm a bit concerned because it comes down to the point that unless someone is willingly and openly making a statement, nobody has an idea whether they have determined what their gender identity is. We certainly see that there are going to be some problems with that.
Many of the definitions we hear are being made up by those who lobby on this; they're not definitions in law and they're not found in legal documents. I have some concerns about creating expressions as we go that don't have definition and then trying to get the courts and the human rights tribunals or commissions to put definitions to them.
I don't know whether anyone else has anything to speak to on this issue.