By Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO (Reuters) -Over two months, Canadian officials scrambled to advise and reassure Canadians wanting to travel to the U.S. after President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender, documents show.
The order, issued January 20, states the U.S. only recognizes two sexes, requires the government use the term “sex” rather than “gender” and mandates identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on what it described as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
In a series of emails obtained through a freedom of information request, Canadian officials debated how to respond to concerns and whether and how to update Canada’s travel advisory for the United States.
Canada’s back-and-forth in responding suggests a tightrope walk between protecting its citizens, addressing their concerns and avoiding offending a close ally with whom it has had a strained trading relationship.
A January 22 email said Canadian officials were in touch with U.S.authorities about the executive order and its “real or potential impact on trans Canadians’ ability to enter the US.”
In a January 27 email, an official with Global Affairs Canada refers to a query from a Canadian and asks, “What is the plan to reassure Canadians & address their concerns regarding travel to the US?”
Officials also discussed a new U.S. policy requiring visa applicants to list the sex assigned at birth on their applications even if it differs from the sex marker on their passports. They worried about the implications for Canadian permanent residents and for delegates travelling to the U.S. for meetings.
Canada did update its U.S. travel advisory in March to note a new U.S. requirement for foreign nationals staying longer than 30 days to register with the U.S. government.
Officials also wrote and approved new wording addressing the Trump administration’s new policy on passports with “X” gender markers, but never added it to the travel advisory. The reasoning has been redacted, under a section of Canada’s Access to Information Act exempting “advice,” among other things.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada did not say why the travel advisory wasn’t changed. Canada is monitoring the situation closely and is not aware of any Canadian denied entry to the U.S. because of the “X” gender identifier on their passport, the spokesperson said.
Officials commonly prepare text to respond to possible scenarios, the spokesperson wrote in an email.
“This preparation includes developing draft templates of text that can be quickly adapted to respond to a specific situation if needed, based on the most recent information.”
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Chizu Nomiyama )
