LGBTQ ‘purge’ class-action settlement could grant up to $150,000 in payments

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is prepared to pay out up to $50,000 to anyone who was ousted from the military or federal public service because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, according to the agreement in principle reached in a class-action suit.

There could be up to another $100,000 for anyone with lasting and severe psychological harm from physical or sexual assault as a result of the process of being investigated, sanctioned or dismissed.

The minimum amount anyone would receive is $5,000 for things such as being questioned, denied a promotion or facing targeted harassment from their superiors, with the total amount of compensation to be capped at $110 million.

The details of the settlement, which must still be finalized and approved by the Federal Court, come the day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology in the House of Commons for past state-sanctioned discrimination against LGBTQ people in Canada.

There would be another $15 million set aside for reconciliation and memorialization measures related to how LGBTQ federal employees were treated by the government for decades, even after homosexual acts were decriminalized in 1969.

That could include a travelling museum exhibit, a national monument in Ottawa and a panel set up to figure out how to spend the rest, such as on academic endowments and Heritage Minutes aimed at educating the public.