Cheeky slogans

The province of Quebec used the occasion of Montreal Pride over the weekend to reveal that they will be tabling a “wide-ranging action plan” against homophobia for the province this autumn. The plan will put into place recommendations made by the province’s human rights commission when they wrote a report in 2007 on homophobia in the province. This is good news in that at least one government in this country is taking the issue seriously – hopefully others will start to catch on and start enacting similar plans. And snaps to Jean Charest for taking a leadership role when the federal government is obviously asleep at the switch on this one.

Also at Montreal Pride this weekend, I was reliably informed that the Liberals were out in full force with a cheeky slogan that says “69 is a Liberal position” – referencing of course the fact that it was in 1969 that Trudeau’s bill to decriminalise homosexuality was enacted. The party has even set up a page on their official website to consult with the queer community. In fact, between initiatives like this, and based on interviews I’m doing regarding the Ottawa Centre nomination race (which will be up on the Capital Xtra page soon), the Liberals seem to be making a concerted effort to reach out to queer voters and have told me that it’s a constituency they’re not taking for granted. That’s good to know.

(I’m also told the NDP contingent was small, but they were mostly at their convention in Halifax. I’ll have more about what they’re doing for the queer community in a full article on the Xtra.ca national page tomorrow).

The Supreme Court is set to decide on a high-profile Quebec case that could have major implications for those who are in common-law relationships but who are still seeking access to alimony. The case could change the way the law looks at common-law relationships under Quebec’s civil code in relation to how it treats marriages – something especially relevant in a province where a third of all relationships are common-law.

Facebook has apparently been cooperating with the Federal Privacy Commissioner with regards to complying with her recommendations lest she take them to Federal Court over privacy violations that the site engages in. Apparently they’ve been having a “constructive dialogue” with her office, and they’re confident that her concerns will be answered.

And finally, this story has been making the rounds, where the question was asked at a Psychic Fair in Fredericton about the possibility of an autumn election, and lo and behold, some of them say for sure. One of them says that definitely within six months, but most curiously, one particular psychic says that she sees the next Prime Minister as a “stranger going through and somebody who hasn’t been considered yet.” Very interesting.