TESA strenuously objects to current Vital Statistics amendment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--Tuesday, May 6, 2014--ALBERTA
The Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA) strenuously objects to the Vital Statistics Act amendment brought forward on May 5, 2014 by the Alberta government regarding changing sex on Alberta birth certificates.
"TESA had high hopes for this amendment," says TESA president Jan Buterman. "The comments made publicly by Premier Hancock suggested that the Vital Statistics Act itself would be changed to make the process of amending the sex marker on an Alberta birth certificate easier for transgender Albertans. Unfortunately, the text of the Bill does not support that interpretation."
At the moment, Section 30(1) of the Vital Statistics Act limits amending Alberta birth certificates to those whose "anatomical sex structure has been changed to the opposite sex from that which appears on the person's birth registration document" and also requires "an affidavit from each of 2 physicians, each affidavit stating that the anatomical sex of the person has been changed."
The amendments put forth in the government's Bill 12, Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, retains Section 30(1), and adds the following statement, "(1.1) The Registrar may, in a circumstance provided for in the regulations and subject to any conditions in the regulations, amend the sex on the person’s record of birth and may, with the consent of the other party to the marriage, amend the sex on the record of a subsisting marriage, if any, of the person that is registered in Alberta."
"At the moment, no information has been put forward as to what the regulation might contain, and both of the existing Vital Statistics regulations do not yet contain such information. However, even if such a Regulation were practically perfect in every way, the possibility that the Regulation could be changed without prior consultation remains a risk," says Buterman, noting that the provincial government has previously made decisions that significantly impacted trans* Albertans without prior consultation, such as the 2009 de-listing of SRS/GRS (Sex/Gender Reassignment Surgery) as well as the 2012 re-listing of the same.
Unlike the process for creating or amending legislation, which requires bringing a bill before the legislature and engaging publicly in three readings and debates before being enacted, regulations created by government ministries may be established or changed at any time without any involvement from the Members of the Legislative Assembly at large, let alone input from affected communities or those serving such communities.
"All other provinces undertaking similar amendments to their respective Vital Statistics Acts have chosen to embed these requirements directly within the legislation, not fob it off to Regulation. Albertans should not need to be legal scholars to be able to understand the legislation governing their needs," Buterman says. "How many people know that any given statute isn't necessarily the entire body of rules? How will trans* people be advised of any further revisions to the birth certificate amending process if left to the role of Regulation?"
Buterman also notes that a recent Alberta Court of Queen's Bench decision found in favour of a trans* Albertan seeking to amend her birth certificate without proof of surgery, stating that "In that it [the Vital Statistics Act, or VSA] does not permit the issuance to C.F. of a birth certificate which records her sex as female, the VSA infringes C.F.'s Charter s.15(1) right to equal protection and benefit of the law."
Released this past March, TESA's State of Trans* in Alberta: Trans Day of Visibility Report 2014 calls for the Province of Alberta to follow the lead of Ontario in allowing trans* people to change their birth documents without undergoing surgery. Current bills before the BC and Manitoba legislatures likewise do away with surgery-focused language, and would also embed the birth certificate amendment process directly within the legislation.
TESA is further deeply concerned that the proposed amendments to the Vital Statistics Act do not also include changes to Section 26 regarding publication of legal change of name in the Alberta Gazette by the Registrar. While S.26(2) states that "The Registrar or the Court of Queen's Bench may dispense with the requirement for publication of the notice ... if, in the Registrar's or Court's opinion" that "(c) the person whose name is being changed would be unduly prejudiced or embarrassed or may be harmed by the publication of the notice," TESA is unaware of any trans* Albertans successfully invoking this section to prevent publicly-accessible information about a person's former and current legal name without professional legal assistance.
"Being outed by a government's own databases to random people making random Internet searches is absolutely inappropriate," Buterman says. "Back in the day, publishing this information may have been of minimal consequence, as the publication was available only in hardcopy and generally limited to legal specialists. However, now that such records are available through search engines, such 'public' publication is now viewable from anyplace in the world with an Internet connection."
"Trans* Albertans want to participate fully as citizens in our own province, and having correct government-issued identification is essential to that participation," says Buterman. "TESA believes that the proposed amendment to the Alberta Vital Statistics Act provides no assurances whatsoever to making the goal of a trans*-inclusive Alberta a reality, nor does the amendment affirm the right of all to have equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination."
For further information, please see:
State of Trans* in Alberta: Trans Day of Visibility Report 2014
http://www.tesaonline.org/uploads/4/1/5/5/4155431/tesa-tdov-report-2014.pdf
AB -- Bill 12, Statutes Amendment Act, 2014
http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_28/session_2/20140303_bill-012.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Act
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/V04P1.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Information Regulation
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2012_003.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Ministerial Regulation
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2012_012.pdf
C.F. v. Alberta (Vital Statistics), 2014 ABQB 237
http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/jdb_new/public/qb/2003-NewTemplate/qb/Civil/2014/2014abqb0237.pdf
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html
BC -- Bill 17-2014, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014
http://www.leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/1st_read/gov17-1.htm
MB -- Bill 56, The Vital Statistics Amendment Act
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/40-3/pdf/b056.pdf
ON -- Vital Statistics Act
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90v04_e.htm
More information about TESA can be found at www.tesaonline.org
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The Trans Equality Society of Alberta (TESA) strenuously objects to the Vital Statistics Act amendment brought forward on May 5, 2014 by the Alberta government regarding changing sex on Alberta birth certificates.
"TESA had high hopes for this amendment," says TESA president Jan Buterman. "The comments made publicly by Premier Hancock suggested that the Vital Statistics Act itself would be changed to make the process of amending the sex marker on an Alberta birth certificate easier for transgender Albertans. Unfortunately, the text of the Bill does not support that interpretation."
At the moment, Section 30(1) of the Vital Statistics Act limits amending Alberta birth certificates to those whose "anatomical sex structure has been changed to the opposite sex from that which appears on the person's birth registration document" and also requires "an affidavit from each of 2 physicians, each affidavit stating that the anatomical sex of the person has been changed."
The amendments put forth in the government's Bill 12, Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, retains Section 30(1), and adds the following statement, "(1.1) The Registrar may, in a circumstance provided for in the regulations and subject to any conditions in the regulations, amend the sex on the person’s record of birth and may, with the consent of the other party to the marriage, amend the sex on the record of a subsisting marriage, if any, of the person that is registered in Alberta."
"At the moment, no information has been put forward as to what the regulation might contain, and both of the existing Vital Statistics regulations do not yet contain such information. However, even if such a Regulation were practically perfect in every way, the possibility that the Regulation could be changed without prior consultation remains a risk," says Buterman, noting that the provincial government has previously made decisions that significantly impacted trans* Albertans without prior consultation, such as the 2009 de-listing of SRS/GRS (Sex/Gender Reassignment Surgery) as well as the 2012 re-listing of the same.
Unlike the process for creating or amending legislation, which requires bringing a bill before the legislature and engaging publicly in three readings and debates before being enacted, regulations created by government ministries may be established or changed at any time without any involvement from the Members of the Legislative Assembly at large, let alone input from affected communities or those serving such communities.
"All other provinces undertaking similar amendments to their respective Vital Statistics Acts have chosen to embed these requirements directly within the legislation, not fob it off to Regulation. Albertans should not need to be legal scholars to be able to understand the legislation governing their needs," Buterman says. "How many people know that any given statute isn't necessarily the entire body of rules? How will trans* people be advised of any further revisions to the birth certificate amending process if left to the role of Regulation?"
Buterman also notes that a recent Alberta Court of Queen's Bench decision found in favour of a trans* Albertan seeking to amend her birth certificate without proof of surgery, stating that "In that it [the Vital Statistics Act, or VSA] does not permit the issuance to C.F. of a birth certificate which records her sex as female, the VSA infringes C.F.'s Charter s.15(1) right to equal protection and benefit of the law."
Released this past March, TESA's State of Trans* in Alberta: Trans Day of Visibility Report 2014 calls for the Province of Alberta to follow the lead of Ontario in allowing trans* people to change their birth documents without undergoing surgery. Current bills before the BC and Manitoba legislatures likewise do away with surgery-focused language, and would also embed the birth certificate amendment process directly within the legislation.
TESA is further deeply concerned that the proposed amendments to the Vital Statistics Act do not also include changes to Section 26 regarding publication of legal change of name in the Alberta Gazette by the Registrar. While S.26(2) states that "The Registrar or the Court of Queen's Bench may dispense with the requirement for publication of the notice ... if, in the Registrar's or Court's opinion" that "(c) the person whose name is being changed would be unduly prejudiced or embarrassed or may be harmed by the publication of the notice," TESA is unaware of any trans* Albertans successfully invoking this section to prevent publicly-accessible information about a person's former and current legal name without professional legal assistance.
"Being outed by a government's own databases to random people making random Internet searches is absolutely inappropriate," Buterman says. "Back in the day, publishing this information may have been of minimal consequence, as the publication was available only in hardcopy and generally limited to legal specialists. However, now that such records are available through search engines, such 'public' publication is now viewable from anyplace in the world with an Internet connection."
"Trans* Albertans want to participate fully as citizens in our own province, and having correct government-issued identification is essential to that participation," says Buterman. "TESA believes that the proposed amendment to the Alberta Vital Statistics Act provides no assurances whatsoever to making the goal of a trans*-inclusive Alberta a reality, nor does the amendment affirm the right of all to have equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination."
For further information, please see:
State of Trans* in Alberta: Trans Day of Visibility Report 2014
http://www.tesaonline.org/uploads/4/1/5/5/4155431/tesa-tdov-report-2014.pdf
AB -- Bill 12, Statutes Amendment Act, 2014
http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_28/session_2/20140303_bill-012.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Act
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/V04P1.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Information Regulation
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2012_003.pdf
AB -- Vital Statistics Ministerial Regulation
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2012_012.pdf
C.F. v. Alberta (Vital Statistics), 2014 ABQB 237
http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/jdb_new/public/qb/2003-NewTemplate/qb/Civil/2014/2014abqb0237.pdf
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html
BC -- Bill 17-2014, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014
http://www.leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/1st_read/gov17-1.htm
MB -- Bill 56, The Vital Statistics Amendment Act
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/40-3/pdf/b056.pdf
ON -- Vital Statistics Act
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90v04_e.htm
More information about TESA can be found at www.tesaonline.org
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