CANADA: SENATE PASSES GAY HATE-CRIMES BILL

Robinson Absent for Victory

SUE BAILEY Canadian Press Thursday, April 29, 2004

OTTAWA -- The Senate passed a bill Wednesday to extend hate-crime protection to homosexuals, but MP Svend Robinson wasn't there to enjoy his hard-won victory.

The openly gay New Democrat was in self-imposed exile from the political limelight as his private member's bill jumped the last major hurdle to becoming law. Not that Robinson, disgraced after admitting he stole an expensive ring on April 9, was far away.

He was seen exchanging hugs and high-fives with jubilant supporters on a street within sight of Parliament Hill.

Robinson has declined interview requests since taking a medical leave from his job. He cited stress and "emotional pain" at a tearful news conference two weeks ago.

"He is under orders from his medical professionals that he's not to engage in any activities that are parliamentary," said Ian Capstick, a spokesman for the NDP caucus.

Robinson was only in Ottawa for a day to complete related paperwork and retrieve some personal items, Capstick said. The timing coincided with the vote by coincidence, he said.

Senators voted 59-11 to pass the bill as applause echoed through the ornate red chamber. It now requires the final formality of royal assent to become law.

It was a rare feat for an opposition MP but a tempered victory. Robinson, who publicly apologized for the theft, could still face charges.

A special prosecutor in B.C. is reviewing whether he should be charged.

"It's a real mixture of sadness and happiness," said New Democrat MP Libby Davies, a close friend of Robinson's.

"It's sort of bittersweet that he's put so much into it and he's not able to be there at the Senate to see it go through."

Davies, who represents Vancouver East, called Robinson right after the vote but didn't tell reporters he was in town.

"He has a lot to go through, including a possible court case," she said in an earlier interview. "But right now his focus is on getting the help he needs."

Robinson, a 25-year veteran of federal politics, had worked since 1981 to add gays and lesbians to a list of groups legally protected from incitement of hatred and genocide under the Criminal Code.

The bill cleared the House of Commons last September after raucous debate. At the time, the former Canadian Alliance - now part of the new Conservative party - and some Liberals fought the bill over fears that freedom of speech and religion would suffer.

Opponents raised concerns that the bill could be used even against religious leaders who condemn homosexuality from the pulpit. They also attacked the logic of singling out certain groups for specific protection, arguing that violence against all people should be prosecuted equally and is already outlawed.

The bill's passage in the Liberal-dominated Senate alarmed critics.

"Unfortunately, most Liberals in both the Senate and the House of Commons chose to support an NDP-sponsored law that could put fundamental Canadian freedoms in jeopardy," said Conservative MP Vic Toews, a former attorney general of Manitoba.

Supporters dismissed such claims, citing the frequency with which gays and lesbians - particularly homosexual men - are targeted.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Professional Police Association supported the bill.

Police have so far been powerless to prosecute the likes of Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., who runs a website that declares God hates homosexuals.

Supporters of Phelps have entered Canada twice in the last five years to hold anti-gay rallies.