Poilievre Out-foxes Trudeau In First Foray Into the Gender Ideology Debate

In a moment that many on the political Right have been waiting for, the Conservative Party has finally entered the debate around Gender Ideology. 

Last week when Poilievre was asked about a new law in New Brunswick that would require the school to inform parents of a child under 16 that wanted to change their pronouns, Poilievre said he would defer to the province on matters of education. In Canada, education is a provincial matter. Many on the Right were upset that Poilievre did not come out harder and start listing the harms of gender ideology.

In terms of a purely political move, Poilievre’s gamble paid off as Justin Trudeau decided to step on the metaphorical bear trap that Poilievre avoided.  Justin Trudeau, pathologically unable to tolerate any political view that is not aligned with his own, decided to attack Premier Blaine Higgs over his very reasonable policies. This opened the door for the CPC to enter the debate by defending New Brunswick’s autonomy and provincial rights.

You better believe that Quebec, especially the Bloc, is observing this development very carefully. Trudeau’s interference in the politics of any province has the potential to bleed away seats from the Liberal party in Quebec since they value provincial autonomy very highly as an electoral issue.

The gender debate ultimately is not a debate about provincial rights. The core of the issue is parental rights, protecting vulnerable women and children, and truth. Poilievre’s jab at Trudeau to stay out of the province’s jurisdiction spawned the all too honest reaction from the Liberal party elites like Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.

O’Regan parrot’s the classic “government knows best” attitude that defines the LPC. What makes this all the more disturbing is that this exact attitude was responsible for the crimes against the indigenous Canadians that Trudeau feels the need to make a showy apology for a couple of times a year.

In the 1960s and 1990s the Canadian government’s plan to save children from the parents that did not meet the government’s standards caused many indigenous children to be taken out of their family environments and placed under neglectful and/or abusive government care. It seems like the Canadian government is dead set on making this mistake every 30 years or so.

Poilievre did eventually come around and make a soft statement in favour of parental rights, which was a welcome improvement over his previous stance, but there is still some room to improve.

This round may go to Poilievre, but it is only the first. Poilievre is primed to make real headway on issues that can unite the majority of Canadians. Male rapists declaring themselves female to get access to female prisons to continue raping, parents having the right to see what education their child is receiving, and female athletes being given fair opportunities are all important issues that reasonable people can be won over on.  If Poilievre and the CPC fall into their old ways and have a polling company do a focus group to determine what is politically correct to say, they will lose this issue.

However, if they continue to build on their momentum and speak with confidence and moral clarity they can win over a brand new cohort of voters.