Proposed Settlement of LGBT Purge Class Action

TORONTO, April 21, 2018: The Federal Government of Canada and certain former members of the Canadian Armed Forces ("CAF"), RCMP and employees of the Federal Public Service ("FPS") who were directly affected by the LGBT Purge in the CAF, RCMP and FPS have reached a proposed settlement of class action lawsuits. The proposed settlement must be approved by the Federal Court before there is any money available. Your legal rights are affected even if you do nothing. Please read this notice carefully.

The "LGBT Purge" refers to actions taken to identify, investigate, sanction, and in some cases, terminate the employment of, or discharge LGBTQ2 members of the CAF, RCMP and FPS.

The Representative Plaintiffs and Canada have agreed to a proposed settlement. By agreeing to the proposed settlement, the parties avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial and delays in obtaining judgment, and certain individuals who were directly affected by the official policies of the CAF, RCMP and Federal Public Service may receive the benefits described in the settlement agreement. By settling this class action, the Representative Plaintiffs and Canada have reached an agreement that will provide for individual reconciliation and recognition measures consisting of an award to be created to be called the Canada Pride Citation and a personal letter of apology in addition to broad based reconciliation and memorialization measures.

The Federal Court is required to decide whether to approve the proposed settlement. The Court will hear submissions about the approval of the proposed settlement on June 18 and 19, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in Ottawa, Ontario. Payments and other benefits will only be made available if the Court approves the proposed settlement and after any appeals are resolved. Please be patient.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS FOR THIS PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

1. Participate: Write a letter that includes your name, address and telephone number and explain why you support or object to the proposed settlement. You may also use the Objection Form which can be found at www.lgbtpurgesettlement.com. You must mail or email your Objection Form on or before May 31, 2018 to: LGBT Purge Class Action, c/o Deloitte, Bay Adelaide East, 8 Adelaide Street West, Suite 200, Toronto ON, M5H 0A9 or lgbtpurge@deloitte.ca.
   
   

2. Go to a Hearing: You can attend the Approval Hearing in the Federal Court of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario on June 18 and 19, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. to participate in the hearing, to express your support for, or to object to, the proposed settlement.
   
   

3. Do Nothing: Give up your right to object to the proposed settlement.

These rights and options and the deadlines to exercise them and more information about the proposed settlement are explained in a notice available at www.lgbtpurgesettlement.com.

More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement at www.lgbtpurgesettlement.com. You can send your questions to LGBT Purge Class Action, c/o Deloitte, Bay Adelaide East, 8 Adelaide Street West, Suite 200, Toronto ON, M5H0A9 or by email at lgbtpurge@deloitte.ca. You may also call the toll free number 1-833-346-6178.

This notice was approved by the Federal Court.