The We Demand Rally was the first large scale gay rights demonstration in Canada. The rally occurred on August 28, 1971 in Ottawa , and was organized by the gay rights activist groups Toronto Gay Action (TGA) and Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT). There was a parallel rally in Vancouver that was organized in solidarity with the rally by the Vancouver group Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE). The rally plays an important part in the history of queer equity-seeking and gay rights in Canada, as well as the history of feminism in Canada, and has had a lasting legacy in Canadian gay rights activism.
81-461: One of the catalysts for the demonstration was RCMP discrimination against homosexuals following the 1969 changes to the Criminal Code decriminalizing certain gay acts with the passing of bill C-150. Specifically, attempts to drive out gays and lesbians working in the civil service, government, and military, along with other forms of discrimination. Up to this point, discrimination against sexuality
162-453: A "disinformation campaign." Between January 2019 and March 2020, the RCMP spent $ 13 million policing and periodically enforcing injunctions against Indigenous protesters blocking the construction of a pipeline across what the protesters asserted was unceded Wet'suwet'en territory. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs Na'moks and Woos complained about the armed RCMP presence, as the police moved down
243-529: A $ 100 million fund to compensate these victims. Over 20,000 current and past female employees who were employed after 1974 are eligible. On March 10, 2020, Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation was arrested by two RCMP officers in Fort McMurray , Alberta. After several minutes of Chief Adam yelling and posturing at officers, the officers tackled him and punched him in
324-466: A commemorative march organized by Queer Ontario called We Still Demand was held on Parliament Hill . The march was both celebrating reforms which have won since the original rally and protesting continued inequality and issues, such as having cops at Pride events and LGBT homelessness. A conference entitled "'We Demand': History/Sex/Activism in Canada/Nous demandons: Histoire/Sexe/Activisme au Canada"
405-475: A direct result of the rally, the Immigration Act was amended, removing the ban on gay men from travelling and immigrating to Canada . All of the original ten demands of the rally have since been met and the laws they addressed have since been amended. The rally led to the creation of The Body Politic by Jearld Moldenhauer , demonstrator and photographer of the rally. Moldenhauer, with a few other activists,
486-592: A new unit called Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2). The JTF2 inherited some equipment and the SERT's former training base near Ottawa . In 1995 the Personal Protection Group (PPG) of the RCMP was created at the behest of Jean Chrétien after the break-in by André Dallaire at the Prime Minister's official Ottawa residence, 24 Sussex Drive . The PPG is a 180-member group responsible for VIP security details, chiefly
567-724: A relatively positive relationship with the Indigenous peoples of Canada , buoyed by their role in restoring order to the Canadian west , which had been disrupted by immigrant settlement, and the stark contrast between Canadian policy and the ongoing American Indian Wars in the late 19th century. After the signing of the Numbered Treaties between 1871 and 1899, however, the service generally failed to provide Indigenous communities with police services equal to those provided to non-Indigenous communities. American historian Andrew Graybill argued
648-594: A result of the RCMP's involvement in its installation. In 1995, the RCMP intervened in the Gustafsen Lake standoff between the armed Ts'peten Defenders, occupying what they claimed was unceded Indigenous land, and armed ranchers, who owned the land and had previously allowed Indigenous people to use part of it on the condition they not erect permanent structures. The RCMP's response included 400 tactical assault team members, five helicopters, two surveillance planes, and nine Bison armoured personnel carriers on loan from
729-569: A senior RCMP officer in the Criminal Intelligence Service (CISC) was on the payroll of a Montreal-based organized crime group, and in 1992, aired an episode identifying Inspector Claude Savoie , then the assistant director of the CISC, as the leak, citing evidence that connected him to Allan Ronald Ross , an Irish-Canadian drug lord , and Sidney Leithman , a prominent lawyer associated with Montreal's organized crime network. Shortly after
810-588: Is alternatively known as His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté ) and is corporately branded as the Government of Canada . There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out the programs and enforce the laws established by the Parliament of Canada . The federal government's organization and structure
891-873: Is commonly known as the Mounties in English (and colloquially in French as la police montée ). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established in 1920 with the amalgamation of the Royal North-West Mounted Police and the Dominion Police . Sworn members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. Under its federal mandate, the RCMP is responsible for enforcing federal legislation; investigating inter-provincial and international crime; border integrity; overseeing Canadian peacekeeping missions involving police; managing
SECTION 10
#1732863334238972-587: Is shared by multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority. The executive is thus formally referred to as the King-in-Council . On the advice of the Canadian prime minister, the sovereign appoints a federal viceregal representative —the governor general (currently Mary Simon )—who, since 1947, is permitted to exercise almost all of the monarch's royal prerogative ; though, there are some duties which must be specifically performed by
1053-658: Is statutorily independent of the RCMP. In the late 1970s, revelations surfaced that the RCMP Security Service had in the course of their intelligence duties engaged in crimes such as burning a barn and stealing documents from the separatist Parti Québécois . This led to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP , better known as the "McDonald Commission", named for the presiding judge, Justice David Cargill McDonald. The commission recommended that
1134-556: The C8 rifle at their disposal, where in the past they had been limited to sidearms. One of the main conclusions from the fatality inquiry that led to this result was the fact that the officers who were involved in the events did not have the appropriate weapons to face someone with a semi-automatic rifle. In 2006, the United States Coast Guard 's Ninth District and the RCMP began a program called "Shiprider", in which 12 Mounties from
1215-590: The Canada convoy protest . On September 19, 2022, the RCMP led the procession through London, England, following the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II due to the long-standing special relationship with the Queen. In 2023, the Mass Casualty Commission recommended that the RCMP replace its Depot-based training regime with a more intensive university-style program and that the federal public safety minister review
1296-563: The Canadian Army and sparked international controversy over the RCMP's use of unusually broad press exclusion zones. One of the members of the Ts'peten Defenders was later granted political asylum in the United States after an Oregon judge found that the RCMP's reporting of the incident—marked by an RCMP member's off-hand comment to media that "smear campaigns are [the RCMP's] specialty"—amounted to
1377-626: The Canadian Crown . In press releases issued by federal departments, the government has sometimes been referred to as the current prime minister's government (e.g. the Trudeau Government ). This terminology has been commonly employed in the media. In late 2010, an informal instruction from the Office of the Prime Minister urged government departments to consistently use, in all department communications, such phrasing (i.e., Harper Government , at
1458-618: The Canadian Firearms Program , which licenses and registers firearms and their owners; and the Canadian Police College, which provides police training to Canadian and international police services. Policing in Canada is considered to be a constitutional responsibility of provinces; however, the RCMP provides local police services under contract in all provinces and territories except Ontario and Quebec . Despite its name,
1539-661: The Canadian West , but by 1920 was becoming "rapidly obsolete;" and the Dominion Police , which was responsible for federal law enforcement, intelligence, and parliamentary security. The new police service inherited the paramilitary , frontline policing-oriented culture that had governed the RNWMP, which had been modelled after the Royal Irish Constabulary , but much of the RCMP's local policing role had been superseded by provincial and municipal police services. In 1928,
1620-507: The Chinese community , which was targeted because of disproportionate links to opium dens . Historians estimate that Canada deported two per cent of its Chinese community between 1923 and 1932, largely under the provisions of the Opium and Narcotics Drugs Act . The first Mountie to go undercover was Frank Zaneth who under the code name Operative Number 1 infiltrated various "radical" groups along with
1701-656: The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission . In the wake of the 2007 Robert Dziekański taser incident at the Vancouver International Airport , two officers were found guilty of perjury to the Braidwood Inquiry and sentenced to jail for their actions. They appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada but were unsuccessful. In July 2007, two RCMP officers were shot and succumbed to their injuries in
SECTION 20
#17328633342381782-712: The Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar . In the aftermath of the Arar affair, the commission of inquiry recommended that the RCMP be subject to greater oversight from a review board with investigative and information-sharing capacities. Following the commission of inquiry's recommendations, the Harper government tabled amendments to the RCMP Act to create
1863-712: The Criminal Investigation Branch to the new Special Branch, formed in 1950. The branch changed names twice: in 1962, to the Directorate of Security and Intelligence; and in 1970 to the Security Service. On April 1, 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador joined in Confederation with Canada, and the Newfoundland Ranger Force amalgamated with the RCMP. In June 1953, the RCMP became a full member of
1944-681: The Germantown neighbourhood 's market square by kettling around 300 rally-goers, sparking the Regina Riot . One city police officer and one protester were killed. The trek, which had been organized to call attention to conditions in relief camps , consequently failed to reach Ottawa, but nevertheless had political reverberations. That same year, three RCMP members, acting under contract as provincial police officers, were killed in Saskatchewan and Alberta during an arrest and subsequent pursuit. During
2025-505: The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). In 1969, the RCMP hired its first Black police officer, Hartley Gosline. On July 4, 1973, during a visit to Regina, Saskatchewan , Queen Elizabeth II approved a new badge for the RCMP. The force subsequently presented the sovereign with a tapestry rendering of the new design. In 1978, the RCMP formed 31 part-time emergency response teams across
2106-567: The King's Privy Council for Canada is the body that advises the sovereign or their representative on the exercise of executive power. This task is carried out nearly exclusively by the Cabinet, which functions as the executive committee of the Privy Council that sets the government's policies and priorities for the country and is chaired by the prime minister. The sovereign appoints the members of Cabinet on
2187-738: The Mayerthorpe tragedy in Alberta in March 2005. It was the single largest multiple killing of RCMP officers since the killing of three officers in Kamloops, British Columbia, by a mentally ill assailant in June 1962. Before that, the RCMP had not incurred such a loss since the North-West Rebellion . One result was that on 21 October 2011 Commissioner William J. S. Elliott announced that RCMP officers would have
2268-629: The Moncton shooting . A review from retired assistant commissioner Alphonse MacNeil in May 2015 issued 64 recommendations, while the RCMP was charged with violating the Canada Labour Code (CLC) for the slow roll-out of the C8 carbine, which had been recommended by the 2011 Elliott inquiry. The RCMP issued the first carbines in 2013, and with 12,000 members across the country had, as of May 2015, only purchased 2,200. At
2349-622: The Spiritwood Incident near Mildred, Saskatchewan . By the end of 2007, the RCMP was named Newsmaker of the Year by The Canadian Press . The RCMP mounted the Queen's Life Guard in May 2012 during celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . On June 3, 2013, the RCMP's A Division was renamed the "National Division" and tasked with handling corruption cases "at home and abroad". In June 2014, three RCMP officers were murdered during
2430-636: The Wortman killing spree that left 23 dead in Nova Scotia in April 2020. The political furor that followed engulfed Commissioner Brenda Lucki and her minister, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair . The RCMP was strongly criticized for its response to the attacks, the deadliest rampage in Canadian history, as well as their lack of transparency in the criminal investigation. CBC News ' television program The Fifth Estate and online newspaper Halifax Examiner analyzed
2511-467: The advice of the King's Privy Council for Canada , referred to as the King-in-Council . However, the Privy Council—consisting mostly of former ministers, chief justices , and other elder statesmen—rarely meets in full. In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government , the advice tendered is typically binding, meaning the monarch reigns but does not rule , with
We Demand Rally - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-622: The federal departments and agencies , staffed by the Public Service of Canada , and the Canadian Armed Forces . One of the main duties of the Crown is to ensure that a democratic government is always in place, which includes the appointment of a prime minister , who heads the Cabinet and directs the activities of the government. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists in long-established convention , which stipulates
2673-651: The head of government , who is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the House of Commons , which is typically determined through the election of enough members of a single political party in a federal election to provide a majority of seats in Parliament, forming a governing party . Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the Canadian constitution , which includes written statutes in addition to court rulings and unwritten conventions developed over centuries. Constitutionally,
2754-474: The 1990s, worn down by workplace culture lawsuits, several high-profile scandals, staffing shortages, and the service's handling of incidents like the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks . The treatment of First Nations people by the RCMP has also been criticized. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was formed in 1920 by the amalgamation of two separate federal police services: the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP), which had been responsible for colonial policing in
2835-546: The CLC trial the Crown argued that the then newly-retired head of the RCMP Bob Paulson had "played the odds" with officer safety and it proved fatal. One result of the CLC trial was the conviction of the organization that had been led by Paulson for close to seven years. In October 2016, the RCMP issued an apology for harassment, discrimination, and sexual abuse of female officers and civilian members. Additionally, they set aside
2916-419: The Cabinet ruling "in trust" for the monarch. However, the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers, and there are rare exceptions where the monarch may be obliged to act unilaterally to prevent manifestly unconstitutional acts. The stipulations of responsible government require that those who directly advise the Crown on the exercise the royal prerogative be accountable to
2997-480: The Crown formed in Cabinet in conventional practice); within the conventional stipulations of a constitutional monarchy, the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is limited. The term Government of Canada , or more formally, His Majesty's Government refers to the activities of the King-in-Council . The day-to-day operation and activities of the Government of Canada are performed by
3078-563: The Crown must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons , who, in practice, is typically the leader of the political party that holds more seats than any other party in that chamber (currently the Liberal Party , led by Justin Trudeau ). Should no particular party hold a majority in the House of Commons, the leader of one party—either
3159-644: The Customs Preventive Service (CPS), a branch of the Department of National Revenue, was folded into the RCMP at the request of RCMP leadership. In 1935, the RCMP, acting as the provincial police service for Saskatchewan (but against the wishes of the Saskatchewan government) and in collaboration with the Regina Police Service , attempted to arrest organizers of the On-to-Ottawa Trek in
3240-469: The GLF. There is some debate as to the number of attendees, with sources citing between 20 and 159. The groups involved presented, as part of the demonstration, a 13-page document containing a list of demands to the Canadian Parliament, drafted by Herbert Spiers and Brian Waite of TGA with contributions from 12 gay activist groups across Canada under the name August 28 Gay Day Committee and signed by members of TGA. The document contained ten main demands: As
3321-399: The Mafia. In 1932, RCMP members killed Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper of Rat River , after a shoot-out. Johnson had been the subject of a dispute with local Indigenous trappers—he had reportedly destroyed their traps, harassed them verbally, and on one occasion, pointed a firearm at them—and, when confronted with a search warrant, opened fire on RCMP officers, wounding one. Also in 1932,
We Demand Rally - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-400: The RCMP at the time. During the federal government's imposition of municipal-style elected councils on First Nations, the RCMP raided the government buildings of particularly resistant traditional hereditary chiefs' councils and oversaw the subsequent council elections – the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council was originally referred to as the "Mounties Council" as
3483-408: The RCMP detachment at Windsor and 16 U.S. Coast Guard boarding officers from stations in Michigan ride in each other's vessels. The intent was to allow for seamless enforcement of the international border. On December 6, 2006, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned after admitting that his earlier testimony about the Maher Arar case was inaccurate. The RCMP's actions were scrutinized by
3564-416: The RCMP historically resembled the Texas Rangers in many ways: each protected the established order by confining and removing Indigenous peoples; tightly controlling the mixed-blood peoples (the African Americans in Texas and the Métis in Canada); assisting the large-scale ranchers against the small-scale ranchers and farmers who fenced the land; and breaking the power of labour unions that tried to organize
3645-404: The RCMP in their investigations. She helped establish the first RCMP forensic laboratory in 1937, and later was its director for several years. In addition to her forensic work, McGill also provided training to new RCMP and police recruits in forensic detection methods. Upon her retirement in 1946, McGill was appointed honorary surgeon to the RCMP and continued to act as a dedicated consultant for
3726-427: The RCMP infiltrated ethnic or political groups considered to be dangerous to Canada. These included the Communist Party of Canada (founded in 1921) and a variety of Indigenous, minority cultural, and nationalist groups. The service was also deeply involved in immigration matters, and was responsible for deporting suspected radicals. The RCMP paid particular attention to nationalist and socialist Ukrainian groups and
3807-435: The RCMP was learning how to better manage transitions to local policing from contract policing. Similar transitions have been proposed, debated, or approved in some Alberta First Nations, rural Manitoba , and rural New Brunswick . As the federal police service, the RCMP has had an expansive and controversial role in colonization. One of the RCMP's two preceding agencies—the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP)—had enjoyed
3888-487: The RCMP's contract policing program. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was mandated to conduct a review of RCMP contract policing when he took office in 2022. In June 2021, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien found that the RCMP had broken Canadian privacy law through hundreds of illegal searches using Clearview AI . In February 2022, four men were arrested near Coutts, Alberta , for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to kill RCMP officers during
3969-406: The RCMP's involvement in contract policing. Later that year, the force established a new direct-entry program for federal policing candidates. Those recruited for the program will be required to complete a shorter, more focussed 14-week training curriculum in Ottawa before being posted to a federal policing position. As of 2024, the implementation is suspended due to concerns raised by unions. In
4050-506: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are no longer an actual mounted police service, and horses are used only at ceremonial events and certain other occasions. The Government of Canada considers the RCMP to be an unofficial national symbol, and in 2013, 87 per cent of Canadians interviewed by Statistics Canada said that the RCMP was important to their national identity. However, the service has faced criticism for its broad mandate, and its public perception in Canada has gradually soured since
4131-414: The advice of the prime minister who, by convention, are generally selected primarily from the House of Commons (although often include a limited number of members from the Senate ). During its term, the government must retain the confidence of the House of Commons and certain important motions , such as money bills and the speech from the throne , are considered as confidence motions . Laws are formed by
SECTION 50
#17328633342384212-472: The country to respond to serious incidents requiring a tactical police response. In 1986, in the wake of the 1985 Turkish embassy attack in Ottawa and the bombing of Air India Flight 182 , the Canadian government directed the RCMP to form the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), a full-time counter-terrorism unit. In the early 1990s, journalists at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 's The Fifth Estate opened an investigation into rumours that
4293-432: The early 2020s, the cities of Surrey, British Columbia , and Grande Prairie , Alberta, both established independent municipal police forces to replace the RCMP. In the wake of these decisions, and similar moves by the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan to establish supplementary provincial police services to support (and, according to some critics, eventually replace) the RCMP, Commissioner Mike Duheme indicated that
4374-417: The elected House of Commons and the day-to-day operation of government is guided only by a sub-group of the Privy Council made up of individuals who hold seats in Parliament, known as the Cabinet . The monarch and governor general typically follow the near-binding advice of their ministers. The royal prerogative, however, belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers, who only rule "in trust" for
4455-404: The end to RCMP surveillance on gay workers, the end to medical discrimination and intervention, amendments to divorce laws, and equal civil rights to be extended to gay people and lesbians. There was a parallel rally in Vancouver coordinated in solidarity and organized by Gay Alliance Toward Equality . Roedy Green, chairperson of GATE, spoke, as did representatives from Vancouver Gay Sisters and
4536-413: The episode aired, and minutes before being interviewed by detectives with the RCMP's professional standards unit, Savoie committed suicide in his Ottawa office. One of Savoie's subordinates, Portuguese-Canadian constable Jorge Leite , was found guilty of corruption and breach of trust by a Portuguese court about his work with Savoie. In 1993, the SERT was transferred to the Canadian Forces , creating
4617-509: The federal government authorized the RCMP to enter into heavily subsidized contracts with provinces and municipalities, enabling the service to return to its roots in local policing. The federal government paid 60 per cent of the policing costs, while provinces and municipalities paid the remaining 40 per cent. By 1950, eight of the ten Canadian provinces had disbanded their provincial police services in favour of subsidized RCMP policing. As part of its national security and intelligence functions,
4698-590: The head whilst struggling with him on the ground. Chief Adam was later charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer, but the charges were subsequently dropped. After watching the video of the arrest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "[w]e have all now seen the shocking video of Chief Adam's arrest and we must get to the bottom of this". Following the revelation of Chief Adam's arrest—as well as several other recent instances in which RCMP officers had assaulted or killed Indigenous people —RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki stated, after initially demurring on
4779-460: The hopes that they could be definitively refused entry to the service as "their colour would raise the question of policy." Both men ultimately passed the requisite tests, but neither was given an offer of employment. In the wake of the 1945 defection of Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko , who revealed that the Soviet Union was spying on Western nations, the RCMP separated its units responsible for domestic intelligence and counter-espionage from
4860-450: The interwar period, the RCMP employed special constables to assist with strikebreaking . For a brief period in the late 1930s, a volunteer militia group, the Legion of Frontiersmen , was affiliated with the RCMP. Many members of the RCMP belonged to this organization, which was prepared to serve as an auxiliary police service. In 1940, the RCMP schooner St. Roch facilitated the first effective patrol of Canada's Arctic territory. It
4941-400: The monarch and who must relinquish the Crown's power back to it upon losing the confidence of the commons, whereupon a new government, which can hold the lower chamber 's confidence, is installed by the governor general. The royal and vice-royal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations (an exercise of the reserve powers ), thereby allowing
SECTION 60
#17328633342385022-450: The monarch themselves (such as assent of certain bills). In case of the governor general's absence or incapacitation, the administrator of Canada performs the Crown's most basic functions. As part of the royal prerogative, the royal sign-manual gives authority to letters patent and orders-in-Council . Much of the royal prerogative is only exercised in-council, meaning on the advice of the King's Privy Council for Canada ( ministers of
5103-403: The party with the most seats or one supported by other parties—will be called by the governor general to form a minority government . Once sworn in, the prime minister holds office until their resignation or removal by the governor general, after either a motion of no confidence or defeat in a general election . The executive is defined in the Constitution Act, 1867 as the Crown acting on
5184-466: The passage of bills through Parliament, which are either sponsored by the government or individual members of Parliament. Once a bill has been approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate, royal assent is required to make the bill become law. The laws are then the responsibility of the government to oversee and enforce. Under Canada's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy , the terms government and Government of Canada refer specifically to
5265-399: The prime minister and the governor general. The RCMP Security Service (RCMPSS) was a specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence branch with national security responsibilities following revelations of illegal covert operations relating to the Quebec separatist movement . As a result, the RCMPSS was replaced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in 1984, and
5346-416: The prime minister, Cabinet, and other members of the governing party inside the House of Commons , but typically includes the federal public service and federal departments and agencies when used elsewhere. This differs from the United States , where the executive branch is referred to as an administration and the federal government encompasses executive, legislative, and judicial powers, similar to
5427-404: The question, that systemic racism exists in the RCMP: "I do know that systemic racism is part of every institution, the RCMP included", she said. One day earlier, Trudeau had also stated that "[s]ystemic racism is an issue right across the country, in all our institutions, including in all our police services, including in the RCMP." RCMP Constable Heidi Stevenson was killed while responding to
5508-433: The road, kilometre-by-kilometre, over days, dismantling fortified checkpoints and making arrests. The RCMP's enforcement of a court injunction against the occupiers in 2020 sparked international controversy and protests and, as of 2022, sporadic occupations and protests—some violent—have continued at the site. In the 1920s, Saskatchewan provincial pathologist Frances Gertrude McGill began providing forensic assistance to
5589-403: The schools, sometimes by force, as per the Indian Act and as was common for truant non-Indigenous children through the same period. Marcel-Eugène LeBeuf stated in his report for the RCMP that records and oral histories indicate the force "was responding, in its most traditional police role, to a request to protect children" and that abuses within the school system were largely unreported to
5670-411: The service up until her deatj in 1959. Government of Canada The Government of Canada ( French : Gouvernement du Canada ) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada . The term Government of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown (together in the Cabinet ) and the federal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it
5751-456: The service's intelligence duties be removed in favour of the creation of a separate intelligence agency, the CSIS. The RCMP and the CSIS nonetheless continue to share responsibility for some law enforcement activities in the contemporary era, particularly in the anti-terrorism context. Due to 9/11 , the RCMP Sky Marshals , which is charged with security on passenger aircraft, was inaugurated in 2002. Four RCMP officers were fatally shot during
5832-494: The steps of Parliament Hill in Ottawa . The rally had speeches given by demonstrators such as Charlie Hill of Toronto Gay Action, George Hislop and Pat Murphy of CHAT, Pierre Mason of Le front de libération des homosexuels, and John Williams of Cleveland, Ohio. The demonstrators mainly consisted of white cisgender gay men. There was only one woman, Cheri DiNovo , who signed the original list of demands. The demonstrators called for
5913-401: The time), in place of Government of Canada . The same Cabinet earlier directed its press department to use the phrase Canada's New Government . Canada is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the role of the reigning sovereign is both legal and practical, but not political. The monarch is vested with all powers of state and sits at the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole
5994-422: The timeline of events, and both observed a myriad of failures and shortcomings in the RCMP response. A criminologist criticized the RCMP's response as "a mess" and called for an overhaul in how the agency responds to active shooter situations, after they had failed to properly respond to other such incidents in the past. In the early 2020s, several governments, politicians, and scholars recommended terminating
6075-474: The work of Ted northe , however there were no large scale organizations or demonstrations up to this point. The Ottawa rally was organized by the groups Toronto Gay Action (TGA) and the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT). The rally contained approximately 200 demonstrators, coming from TGA, CHAT and other homophile and gay rights activist groups. The rally began with a march to
6156-459: The workers of industrial corporations. From 1920 (1933, with respect to the Indian Act ) to 1996, RCMP officers served as truant officers for Indian residential schools , including through the transition of students from federal residential to provincial day schools after 1948, assisting principals, staff, Indian agents , relatives, and members of the communities in bringing truant children to
6237-540: Was driven to create the magazine as a result of significant edits and alterations to an article Moldenhauer wrote about the rally and its demands for the working-class counterculture magazine Guerilla. The first issue of The Body Politic was published November/December 1971 and contained articles about the Ottawa rally and its demands as well as the Vancouver rally, and used a picture of the rally as its cover. On August 28, 2011,
6318-459: Was established at Confederation , through the Constitution Act, 1867 , wherein the Canadian Crown acts as the core, or "the most basic building block", of its Westminster-style parliamentary democracy . The monarch, King Charles III is head of state and is personally represented by a governor general (currently Mary Simon ). A prime minister (currently Justin Trudeau ) is
6399-475: Was hosted on August 28, 2011, commemorating the forty year anniversary of the march. Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ; French : Gendarmerie royale du Canada ; GRC ) is the national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada ; it also provides police services under contract to 11 provinces and territories , over 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. The RCMP
6480-509: Was not legally prohibited and there was no way to complain through human rights commissions. Other issues which drove the protest were the inequality of the Divorce Act, which placed homosexuality in the same category of severity for reasons to divorce as rape or bestiality, and the Immigration Act which banned gay men from immigrating to Canada. There is a history of gay activism, focusing on education and awareness, in Canada before 1971, such as
6561-534: Was the first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage from west to east, taking two years, the first to navigate the passage in one season (from Halifax to Vancouver in 1944), the first to sail either way through the passage in one season, and the first to circumnavigate North America (1950). In 1941, two African-Canadian men from Nova Scotia applied to join the RCMP. The commissioner at the time, Stuart Wood , allegedly allowed them to sit for entrance tests in
#237762