InĢ017, the federal government issued an official apology for its discriminatory actions and policies, along with a $145-million compensation package.Īnd removing suspected LGBTQ individuals from the federal public service and the Canadian Armed Forces. These measures were kept out of public view to prevent scandal and to keep counter-espionage operations under wraps. Many of them were fired, demoted or forced to resign - even if they had no access to security information. These characterizations were justified by arguments that people who engaged in same-sex relations suffered fromĪ “character weakness” and had something to hide because their sexuality was considered a taboo and, under certain circumstances, was illegal. They were cast as social and political subversives and seen as targets for blackmail by communist regimes seeking classified information.
Between the 1950s and the 1990s, the Canadian government responded to national security concerns generated by Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union by spying on, exposingĪnd removing suspected LGBTQ individuals from the federal public service and the Canadian Armed Forces.
