Poilievre's comments on transgender policy draw fire

Conservative leader backs ban on transgender women in female spaces

- TONDA MACCHARLES

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's comments Wednesday prompted criticism from political opponents, who accused him of not caring about the real harms facing women or trans youth.

OTTAWA Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he supports banning “biological males” or transgender women from female bathrooms, change rooms, shelters and sports.

It’s the second time in as many weeks the Conservative leader has carved out a position on transgender policy issues after Alberta promised to introduce a tougher suite of policies for transgender people that federal Liberals charge pose a risk for vulnerable LGBTQ youth.

Poilievre’s statements prompted immediate criticism from his political opponents, who accused him of not caring about the real harms facing women or trans youth, and engaging in “culture wars” as a political distraction and way to motivate a socially conservative base of supporters.

At a Kitchener news conference, Rebel News, an online right-wing outlet, asked Poilievre whether he would introduce “legislation that bans so-called transgender women from participating in female sports and getting access into female shelters and female prisons.”

The Conservative leader did not challenge the questioner’s assertion that transgender access to “safe female spaces” is part of a “war on women” and has led to “real women and girls being emotionally abused, physically injured.”

Instead, Poilievre replied that “Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males.”

He said the U.S. has introduced legislation on “a lot of the spaces you described,” adding that in Canada they are “provincially and municipally controlled.”