Paul Tuns:
Following Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing just two sexes, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s responded to a question of whether he would follow suit if the Conservatives formed government. His response was non-committal: ”I’m not aware of any other genders than men and women.” He notably stopped short of committing to a future Conservative government recognizing only two sexes.
In response to a query from a CTV TV News reporter on Jan. 22, he responded, “If you have any other you want me to consider, you’re welcome to tell me right now.”
Asked again, Poilievre replied: “I’m only aware of two, but I mean if you have, if you come up with another list, then you’re welcome to do that.”
The response received international attention on social media with many commentators saying that Poilievre was pushing back against gender ideology.
Poilievre said, “I’m aware of two (genders), and as far as I’m concerned, we should have a government that just minds its own damn business and leaves people alone to make their own personal decisions.” He added, “That’s the kind of government I’m willing to run.”
Poilievre once again asked the reporter. “Do you have any other genders you would like to name,” he asked the reporter, who replied he was “personally” was a “cis man,” to which Poilievre said that he too was a “man.”
Poilievre indicated he did not think the issue was important. “If Liberals want to talk about different labels that for gender, that they want to put on passports in the United States, they can do that.” He said, “I’m going to talk about the things that will bring home Canada’s promise.”
The previous month, Poilievre did commit to keeping biological males out of female prisons.
In December, Quebec Superior Court Justice Eric Downs sentenced Mohamad Al Ballouz to 25 years in prison with no chance of parole for the 2022 murder of his wife, Synthia Bussières, and two sons, Eliam and Zac. Al Ballouz petitioned to be incarcerated in a women’s prison because he now identifies as female and goes by the name Levana. The judge said it will up to Corrections Canada to determine where Al Ballouz serves his sentence.
Poilievre tweeted about the story on Dec. 22: “Surreal: A man who killed his wife and two kids now claims he is a woman to go to a female prison. I can’t believe I have to say this: but when I’m PM, there will be no male prisoners in female jails. Period.”
According to a Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) paper, a 2022 Correctional Service Canada study of 99 “gender-diverse” individuals in the prison system between 2017 and 2020 found that at least 41 “transgender women” – biological males claiming womanhood – had served at least part of their sentence in a women’s prison. The MLI paper concluded those numbers “constitute strong empirical evidence that the adoption of self-identification policies by CSC is having a disproportionate impact on the composition of women’s prisons.”
