Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will read the motion in its entirety:
That the Government repeals Section 5.2(1)(c) of the Identity Screening Regulations under the Aeronautics Act which were introduced in August 2011 and which states that “An air carrier shall not transport a passenger: (c) if the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents;” as this is a severe discrimination against transgender and transsexual Canadians and a violation of their fundamental right, the freedom of movement, and that this motion be reported back to the House.
Mr. Chair, some of us fly every week, and all we need to have is a driver's licence or an OHIP card that shows who we are. As long as my face looks identical, or close to identical, to the photo on the driver's licence, whether I'm male or female does not really make much of a difference, because I look like the person in the photo. Whether I'm wearing lipstick, whether I'm wearing glasses that day or not, or whether I have short hair or long hair—none of this matters as long as I look like that person in the photo; my gender really is secondary, and it doesn't compromise security.
A lot of people have NEXUS cards now. I happen to have one, and it's retinal: the camera just looks at my eyes. They don't care what my gender identity is. As long as the eye they look at matches, and as long as they can say, “This is the right person”, I go through, if I'm going to the States. Technology is increasingly becoming so much more advanced that we will probably be beyond photo IDs, anyway.
I think this section, which was introduced in August 2011, is unnecessary, it's backward, and it's discriminatory. That's why I have a motion in front of you, Mr. Chair.