By Anna Mehler Paperny
Toronto (Reuters) – For more than two months, Canadian officials have scrambled to advise and assurance Canadians want to travel to the United States after President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender.
The order issued on January 20 pointed out that the United States recognizes only genders, requires the government to use the term “gender” instead of “gender”, and requires the government to issue identification documents, including passports and visas, based on “what a person calls “a person’s priceless biology classified as male or female.”
In a series of emails obtained through a free information request, Canadian officials debated how to deal with doubts and whether and how to update Canada’s travel consultation.
The back and forth of Canada’s response shows that rope walks between protecting its citizens, addressing their concerns and avoiding close allies with whom they have a tense trade relationship.
A Jan. 22 email said Canadian officials were concerned with U.S. officials regarding executive orders and their “real or potential impact on trans Canadians’ ability to enter the U.S..”
In an email on January 27, an official in Canada’s Global Affairs pointed to the inquiry from Canadians and asked: “Rest assured what the Canadians’ plan is and addressed their concerns about traveling to the United States?”
Officials also discussed a new U.S. policy requiring visa applicants to list the gender assigned at birth on their application, even if it differs from the gender marking on their passport. They are concerned about the impact on permanent Canadians and representatives traveling to the United States for meetings.
Canada did update its U.S. travel advice in March to point out new U.S. requirements for foreign nationals who have registered with the U.S. government for 30 days.
Officials also wrote and approved a new wording that targeted the Trump administration’s “X” gender marking of passports, but never added it to travel consultation. In part of the Canada Obtain Information Act, the reasoning has been removed to exempt “recommendations”.
A spokesperson for Canadian Global Affairs did not say why travel consultations have not changed. The spokesman said Canada is closely monitoring the situation and Canadians are unaware of Canada’s refusal to enter the United States due to the “X” gender identifier on their passport.
Officials usually prepare texts to deal with possible situations, a spokesperson wrote in an email.
“This preparation involves the development of a draft text template that can quickly adapt to specific situations when needed, based on the latest information.”
(Reported by Anna Mehler Paperny of Toronto; Editors of Caroline Stauffer and Chizu nomiyama)
