Justice committee  I don't think that poses a problem. The codes are generally similar, but they have slight variations. Some provinces have grounds that are not in the federal act. There are some differences in wording across the many acts that exist.

Justice committee  First, it's really important to remind everyone of the coverage of this act. It's in the federal jurisdiction. It covers employment and service providers in the federal jurisdiction. It is the federal government, obviously, and banks, airlines, and so on, so in terms of the publi

Justice committee  My understanding, based on the tribunal decisions to date, is that complaints brought by transsexuals have been understood to be discrimination under the ground of sex. On the tribunal, both federal and provincial, I have not seen a tribunal decision that has used the term “gende

Justice committee  Again, I would just repeat that I can't make predictions as to how the tribunal would interpret a particular term. It's an emerging area of the law. As you know, provincial governments—in Ontario, for example—have added the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression”. In Ma

Justice committee  If a claimant wanted to bring an expert on their behalf, it would be the claimant who would have to pay for that. The tribunal does not have the power to award legal costs. If a complainant wished to call experts—and I believe they do sometimes call experts—they could do so.

Justice committee  No, there is no financial assistance from the government to complainants before the tribunal.

Justice committee  Do you mean a government database of experts?

Justice committee  I am not aware of any such database, no. I believe individuals find their own experts.

Justice committee  You mean to the complainant.

Justice committee  Not to my knowledge, no.

Justice committee  We're not able to make predictions about what the tribunal will or will not decide and how they will interpret the scope of any new terms that are added to the act. I'm not aware of any interpretations of the words “deeply felt”. They're not existent in the act currently. As

Justice committee  I understand the question. I'll just speak to my colleague for a moment.