Canada must lead on LGBTQ+ rights. Will Carney’s budget meet the moment?

As we wait for Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver his first budget this fall, a budget that promises to be a mixture of austerity and investment, advocacy groups across the country are on tenterhooks to see whether he will live up to his promises he made during the election, or to the queer and trans communities during this year’s Pride flag-raising. Those promises include increasing funding to the LGBTQ2I International Assistance Program, or ensuring that Canada will step up and lead where America is now stepping back. 

“In a time where unfortunately around the world there’s a backlash struggling against the progress that has been made; in this time, Canada will always stand up for the vulnerable and for the equal rights that we cherish,” Carney said at the Pride flag-raising on June 10, a quote that these groups are hoping to hold him to.

Cuts to USAID by U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s “DOGE” office have sent shockwaves throughout the world in terms of just how much assistance relied on that program, not just for funding, but for the logistical support it provided to other donor countries, most of which has now been dismantled, leaving those other countries scrambling. So far, the Canadian government has shown absolutely no inclination to want to step up and fill any of those gaps, even as the consequences are dire. If you look at the effect of the American withdrawal in places like Sudan, it is a preview of what the world looks like at the breakdown of the liberal world order.

The two main programs that members of the Dignity Network are focused on include the LGBTQ2I International Assistance Program, as well as the expansion of the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Program—which may also be affected by the growing backlash against asylum seekers and other migrants, thanks to far-right agitation that is spreading in Canada as it is through other Western countries.

“Canada has become the third leading government donor to LGBTQ2S+ human rights in the world, and it’s really important that Canada stay a leader on this right now, in this really difficult international moment,” says Doug Kerr, executive director of Dignity Network Canada.

@xtramagazine The Alberta government has rewritten its school library standards policy after school boards and critics rightfully pointed out that the previous one would result in classic authors like Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou being pulled from school shelves. In a news release Monday, Premier Danielle Smith’s government announced that the policy would be amended to only include “visual” depictions of explicit sexual content. Which means Smith’s fave, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, is safe, but queer comics and graphic novels like Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home will still be removed from school shelves in the province. The move comes after the Edmonton Public School Board published a list of 200 titles that would be pulled from shelves, including many pieces of classic literature. Atwood even responded by penning a satirical short story criticizing the censorship. This new order announced this week includes several other minor changes, including that it now covers everything in schools and classrooms. Schools are still required to create and maintain lists of school library materials that parents can access. The full implementation date has been bumped back to January from October, but schools must let the government know what books they’re removing by the end of October. In a news release, Alberta Education and Childcare minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he is “confident” that the new standards are “straightforward and easy to implement.” We break down what you need to know 📚📖 #alberta #canada #lgbtqnews #bookban #abpoli ♬ original sound – Xtra Magazine

Currently the Assistance Program accounts for a mere 0.1 percent of Canada’s international assistance budget. Dignity Network has been calling for that to be increased to $25 million annually, which would put it closer to 0.3 percent of the assistance budget. It also couldn’t come at a more important time as we are seeing the spread of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in many countries in Africa, who are only becoming even more emboldened by the attacks on trans people in America. LGBTQ+ scapegoating is one of the most common tactics of authoritarian governments, and we’re seeing its increased use. According to Dignity Network Canada, 62 countries currently criminalize same-sex relationships, and seven of those impose the death penalty. 

There are worrying signs, however, that the push for austerity is going to impact the spending on these programs, because it looks like a lot of those cuts will be coming from grants and contributions as illustrated in the departmental plans for departments like Women and Gender Equality. One person in the international advocacy space I spoke to on background said that the signs they are hearing that the government will be “struggling” to even meet the existing funding commitments from the Trudeau years, never mind that there is a pressing need for increased funding abroad, particularly given the dismantling of USAID. 

One particular commitment that Canada could step up on is with HIV prevention, which is already under threat of losing gains that have been made over the past couple of decades. One of the few things that has largely survived the American cuts was a commitment from PEPFAR to partner with pharmaceutical company Gilead to deliver twice-yearly Lenacapavir doses for HIV prevention for up to two million people in low-income countries. 

Justin McAuley, associate director, Canada, from international global advocacy organization ONE Campaign, says that this is something where Canada could have an outsize impact.

“We’re at a moment where there have been incredible scientific advances, and we can finally see the finish line in the fight against AIDS,” McAuley says. “Without losing that momentum, we now have the treatments available, we have the infrastructure we need, we just need investments from countries like Canada. Prime Minister Carney in the election was very clear—if others are not prepared to lead, then Canada will. This is an area where Canada can lead and can transform the world in a positive and very Canadian way.”

But this is the problem with austerity. Even though it is inherently destructive and leaves lasting damage to those it affects, there is a particular strain of conservative thought that it is necessary for one’s own good, which is what Carney seems to buy into. Never mind that the austerity is being made all the more necessary because he promised and delivered a tax cut that he couldn’t actually afford, and now vulnerable groups, at home and abroad, are likely going to wind up paying the price for it.

And while Carney has talked a good game about stepping up and showing leadership, he’s also showing particularly questionable political judgment in other areas, not the least of which is inviting a Christo-fascist to his cabinet retreat under the dubious excuse of hoping he could provide clues about U.S. president Donald Trump’s next moves (never mind that the text of Project 2025 is readily available online). And if this is where Carney is drawing his information or clues from, how does that ultimately wind up being reflected in the decisions he makes, particularly with this upcoming budget?

“The world has changed in ways that actually make those commitments more important,” Kerr says. “The assault on human rights of LGBTQ2S+ people in the United States is reverberating around the world. The cuts to USAID, the importance of supporting refugees—these are tiny slivers of the Canadian budget. What do we stand for? Are you really going to cut these amounts? What message are you sending?”

“LGBTQ2S+ issues in the Canadian budget are tiny, but they have a very important and outsize impact on communities at home and abroad,” Kerr adds. “Now is the time where Canada should step up.”

The budget will be a reflection of the choices that Carney has made when it comes to living up to the promises he made, for the sake of a few dollars that could make all of the difference for queer and trans people both at home and abroad at a critical moment in history, where the need for Canadian leadership has never been more pressing.