Poilievre Says Biological Males Should Stay Out of Female Sports and Bathrooms

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre makes an announcement in Pointe-Claire, Que., on Feb. 15, 2024. (Noé Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s opposed to biological males competing in women’s sports and using women’s bathrooms.

“Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males,” Mr. Poilievre said during a Feb. 21 press conference in Kitchener, Ont.

The Tory leader was answering a question from Rebel News reporter David Menzies, who has covered the issue of biological males competing in women’s rugby and volleyball. Mr. Menzies has said this leads to “real women and girls being emotionally abused, physically injured.”

Mr. Poilievre was asked if a future Conservative government would “make female safe spaces safe again” by passing law to ban transgender women from female sports or from accessing female shelters and prisons.

Mr. Poilievre said a lot of those spaces are under provincial or municipal control, so it’s not clear what laws the federal government could adopt to have an impact.

“But obviously, female sports, female change rooms, female bathrooms should be for females, not for biological males,” he said.

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The Conservative leader’s comments came two weeks after he was repeatedly pressed by media to clarify his stance on Alberta’s new policies on child transition.

Mr. Poilievre said Feb. 5 that parents should raise their kids and provinces should run schools and hospitals, and that his party stands for “common sense, like on everything else.” The following day he pushed back on what he called attempts to “demonize” parents and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

The Tory leader took a firmer stance on Feb. 7, saying he opposes puberty blockers for children. “I think we should protect children. Let them make adult decisions when they become adults,” he said.

Ms. Smith announced Jan. 31 the province’s plan to ban gender-altering surgery for minors under 18 and prohibit those under 16 from using puberty blockers. She also said transgender men would not be allowed to compete in women-only sporting divisions.

Social issues have not been a focus for Mr. Poilievre since becoming party leader in September 2022. He has instead pushed a message centred on affordability.

This approach has worked well, with the Tories gaining a sizeable lead over the Liberals in all polls, reaching comfortable majority territory.

Meanwhile, Conservative Party delegates adopted resolutions at their latest convention opposing sex-change procedures for minors and banning men from women-only sports and spaces.

Now a recent poll on Alberta’s new policies for children suggests there is also considerable support from Canadians.

The National Post/Léger poll published on Feb. 16 showed that 45 percent of respondents approve of a blanket ban on gender-reassignment surgeries for minors, and approximately 30 percent said they support the medical intervention with parental consent. Those who support such surgeries without parental consent polled at 11 percent.

“Canadians support Premier Smith’s common sense protections of children. Trudeau must butt out,” said Mr. Poilievre on social media in reaction to the poll.

Liberals have reacted harshly to Alberta’s new policies, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it the “most anti-LGBT policies” in Canada. “We need to be there to defend [LGBT youth],” he said.

Omid Ghoreishi and Chandra Philip contributed to this report.