OTTAWA – A lawyer for members of the military and other federal agencies who were investigated and sanctioned because of their sexual orientation says a hellish week of hard-fought negotiations led to a legal settlement.
In an interview today, Doug Elliott calls the agreement in principle a “fair and reasonable settlement.”
Elliott says the Liberal government’s plan to deliver a formal apology this Tuesday for wrongs perpetrated on the LGBTQ community put a lot of pressure on both sides to settle the lawsuit.
READ MORE: Along with apology, Liberals want to expunge criminal records of Canadians convicted of gay sex
But Elliott adds he wasn’t prepared to take a bad deal, and the lead plaintiffs in the case are satisfied with the outcome – details of which will be announced at a news conference following the apology.
The federal government is also set to introduce legislation on Tuesday to expunge the criminal records of people convicted of consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners.
WATCH: Justin Trudeau, top general march in Ottawa’s annual pride parade
The overall scope of the government apology is expected to surpass what other countries have done to make amends to LGBTQ communities.