Okanagan Shuswap MP Colin Mayes stuck with the party line on a bill that attempted to add discrimination against the transgendered to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.
Mayes joined the majority of his federal Conservative colleagues and voted no on Wednesday to Bill C-279, a private member’s bill put forward by the NDP’s Randall Garrison.
Mayes is recorded as being absent during the bill’s previous readings.
But not all Conservatives voted against the bill. One of Mayes’ Parliamentary neighbours, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod was among 18 Conservative members to go against her party –and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. McLeod voted yes to the motion, telling reporters she was compelled to cast her vote in favour after hearing about the profound discrimination that demographic suffers.
Also in the House of Commons this past week, Mayes presented a petition from some of his Okanagan-Shuswap constituents calling on Parliament to support an upcoming motion to condemn sex-selection.
“Millions of girls have been lost through sex-selective abortions, resulting in a global gender imbalance,” said Mayes. “Ultrasounds are being used in Canada to determine the sex of the unborn so that expecting parents can choose to terminate the pregnancy if the unborn child is a girl.”