Mario Silva talks about the impending election

With the writ about to drop for an election, I’m doing one last roundup with gay and lesbian MPs. Starting off is Liberal Mario Silva, who I caught up with after question period yesterday.

Q: Are you ready to go?

A: Oh yeah, we’re ready. There’s no question about that. I feel good about it. Obviously, I’m saddened that the prime minister did not want to cooperate with the opposition and did not want to put anything in the budget that would make us support it, but at the same time, given all that’s taken place and all of the issues that have been brought before the House, we could not support this government, so it was up to the prime minister if he wanted to work with us or not, and he chose not to work with the opposition. We’re going to have an election, but we’re ready. We have a lot of issues that we want to put forward to Canadians, issues that really matter to Canadians and that haven’t been raised by the government.

Q: What about unfinished projects? That report from the anti-Semitism committee hasn’t been finished yet.
A: That report hasn’t been finished yet, and I guess we’ll be delayed now until after the election.

Q: What does your competition look like?
A: Davenport has been a strong Liberal riding for many years, and I don’t really see any party as competition. I run on my record and my involvement in the community. I’m the only candidate running that actually lives in the riding. I grew up in the area; I’ve represented the area for 17 years. I think that people know who I am and the work I’ve done, so I rely on that to get reelected, and so far it’s been very successful. The vast majority of Davenport has continuously trusted me.

Keep Reading

Job discrimination against trans and non-binary people is alive and well

OPINION: A study reveals that we have a long way to go to reach workplace equality for trans and non-binary people

The new generation of gay Conservative sellouts

OPINION: Melissa Lantsman’s and Eric Duncan’s refusals to call out their party’s transphobia is a betrayal of the LGBTQ2S+ community

Over 300 anti-LGBTQ2S+ bills have been introduced this year. This doesn’t mean we should panic

OPINION: While it’s important to watch out for threats, not all threats are created equally. Some of these bills will die a natural death

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight