Excerpt from the OH&S Canada magazine (June 2016)
Nova Scotia has become the first Canadian province to provide official guidelines for support and inclusion of transgender and gender-variant employees in civil service.
A statement dated May 17, 2016 from the provinces Public Service Commission states that the ‘Guidelines to Support Trans and Gender-Variant Employees’ will offer clarity on how to make government workplaces more inclusive for the gender variant. Among the topics addressed in the new guidelines are access to washrooms and change rooms, employees identified names and pronouns, the right to wear clothing reflecting on employees Gander identity and confidentiality.
Maddi MacDonald, co-chair the government’s LGBTI Network, says “these guidelines are a step towards addressing assumptions that all people are male or female, which marginalizes and excludes trans people.”
About one percent of government employees, in the province, identify themselves as transgender or gender-variant, according to a census conducted by the Commission in the winter.
My opinion
I have to admit that I was surprised to see Nova Scotia lead the way to will recognizing transgender and gender-variant governmental employees and create guidelines to accommodate these employees.
I do hope, in the future, all provinces and territories work towards the same goals.
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