The Legault government’s committee of wise men on gender identity will be chaired by the former president of the Council on the Status of Women and PQ candidate Diane Lavallée, announced Tuesday the Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy.
In his work, Mme Lavallée will be supported by the constitutionalist and lawyer Patrick Taillon and by the family doctor Jean-Bernard Trudeau.
“Even if the committee of wise men is not a representation committee, we agreed with the Quebec LGBT Council to work with them,” declared Minister Roy. Although trans people are not represented on her committee, she assured that it will carry out work guided by the “values of openness, respect and equality”.
The Prime Minister, François Legault, announced in September that Minister Roy would head the committee of wise men. He preferred the elected representative from Verchères to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, and to the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville. The CAQ leader had notably justified this choice by the fact that Mme Roy is “a moderate person, who has a lot of political experience and life experience”.
Minister Roy had from that moment declared that her committee was not one of “representation”, already suggesting that the LGBTQ+ communities would not be represented there.
The saga of mixed toilets in schools has awakened a whole reflection within the government of François Legault, which now intends to lead a broader debate on the place of trans and non-binary people in Quebec society.
Bernard Drainville first spoke of a scientific committee. Mr. Legault then spoke of the creation of a committee of wise men. The committee will have to submit a report in winter 2025.
More details will follow.
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