The Liberal government is expected to soon announce the membership of an advisory council charged with crafting an apology to LGBT Canadians who suffered in the past at the hands of federal officials. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will deliver that apology before the end of the year.

Gary Kinsman, a professor emeritus at Laurentian University, said he has been asked to appear before the new council next week as part of a delegation from the We Demand an Apology Network, which advocates for an apology for LGBT public servants who were discriminated against.

"There needs to be a broad-ranging and comprehensive apology," Prof. Kinsman said on Thursday, "an official state apology recognizing and taking responsibility for what they did and the problems they created in people's lives."

After the Second World War, and right up until the late 1980s, federal officials sought to identify homosexuals in the public service and military who were seen as untrustworthy and at risk of blackmail by foreign powers.

Those targeted were subject to interrogation, harassment and dismissal. Many quit rather than submit themselves, friends and family to such harassment. Read more via Globe and Mail