CANADA
ECHO CHAMBER
Conservatives approve policies to limit transgender health care for minors, end race-based hiring
Other debate focused on female spaces, the energy
industry and Canada's passport
Conservative delegates voted Saturday to add some new social conservative policies to their policy playbook, including a proposal to limit access to transgender health care for minors and another to do away with vaccine mandates.
Despite warnings that these policies could be weaponized by their political opponents to hurt their standing among more moderate voters, a strong majority of the delegates on hand voted for a motion that stated children should be prohibited from gender-related "life-altering medicinal or surgical interventions," and for another that said Canadians should have "bodily autonomy" when it comes to vaccines and other health treatments.
About 69 per cent of the delegates agreed that young people should be barred from gender-affirming care, which sometimes includes hormone-related treatments that delay puberty or promote the development of masculine or feminine sex characteristics.
Michelle Badalich, an Edmonton delegate, said dysphoria is a "mental health disorder" and it should be addressed with treatment not "irreversible procedures."
"Please protect our kids," she said to thunderous applause.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is not bound to adopt any of the policies that were passed at this convention. Poilievre did not take questions from reporters after the votes.
'Protect your wives and daughters'
Liam O'Brien, a Newfoundland and Labrador delegate, noted that "Canada is watching" as Conservatives debate controversial policies like this one.
"Canada is also watching our leader kick Justin Trudeau's ass," O'Brien said as he urged delegates to keep the focus on the high cost of living and "Liberal incompetence."
On another transgender-related policy, delegates voted by an overwhelming 87 per cent to support a plan to demand single-sex spaces that are only open to women, which the party now defines as a "female person" with the adoption of the policy.
The policy is intended is to keep transgender and other gender-diverse people out of women's prisons, shelters, locker rooms and washrooms.
Badalich said it's "not extremist" to demand that what she calls "biological women" have a space to call their own.
"Vote yes to protect your wives and daughters," said another delegate, a 15-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta.
A dissenting delegate from Quebec who did not give her name said "the Liberals will love nothing more" than to see Conservatives pass policies like this one and use discriminatory rhetoric to describe sexual minorities.
"Please, let's get the Liberals out. Let's get elected," she said.
The convention also adopted a proposal from the Alberta riding of Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner to impose stiffer penalties on sex offenders and pedophiles.
"Children are little angels of the world," a delegate from that riding named Logan said during the debate. He said there are nefarious actors who are trying to "assault, sexualize and traffic our children," and a Poilievre-led government needs to crackdown on the practice.
About 86 per cent of the delegates agreed there should be "stronger legislation" from a Poilievre-led government to try and curb these activities.
On the issue of vaccines, an Ontario delegate and medical doctor pleaded with Conservatives to reject mandates so to avoid repeat of what transpired during the COVID-19 health crisis.
"Justin Trudeau's coercive, divisive and ineffective vaccine mandate is a violation of the human right to bodily autonomy. Stand up for freedom, stand up for common sense," said Dr. Matt Strauss, the former acting medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk.
Delegates agreed with about 68 per cent voting to "affirm Canadians have the freedom and right to refuse vaccines."
The delegates were in lockstep on most policy matters.
Hiring policies
On the issue of preferential hiring for minorities by research institutions, delegates passed a policy that said federally funded jobs should go to a person who's best qualified, "irrespective of the personal immutable characteristics," stated the motion.
Adrian Dylianou, a Saskatchewan delegate who backed the policy, said "woke ideology" should be rooted out of Canada's universities.
The "woke ideology whims of whoever is in power" is not the way to structure a workplace, he said.
Justin Vuong, an Edmonton delegate who identified as a visible minority, said all job choices should be decided on merit, not the colour of a person's skin.
WATCH | Pierre Poilievre's first leadership convention speech
About 95 per cent of members on hand for the vote agreed.
On a similar matter, 81 per cent of delegates supported a policy to end "forced political, cultural or ideological training of any kind" at a workplace, such as mandatory diversity training and other such programs.
Discussion about the motion focused on Jordan Peterson, a professor with a large following in right-wing circles who was ordered by the College of Psychologists of Ontario to take social media training in the wake of complaints about his controversial online posts and statements.
"Two words: Jordan Peterson," one Alberta delegate said during the debate.
"Forced cultural or ideological training — none of us that support that," he said.
Oil and gas
Virtually all those assembled agreed that Canada should have more "robust measures to counter foreign interference" amid alleged Chinese meddling, improve services for Canada's veterans, eliminate the deficit, reduce the national debt to reduce "inter-generational inequity," and streamline the natural resources regulatory approvals process.
In another vote, 84 per cent of delegates agreed there should be a "purposeful, gradual transition to a lower carbon-use future," but the country should continue to use oil and gas.
A majority of voters also supported a renewed push to get more pipelines built to move those fuels to market.
During a spirited debate on high-speed rail, an urban-rural divide became obvious as competing speakers weighed in on whether the Tories should back a new rail network.
A Nova Scotia delegate said that rural dwellers shouldn't be forced to pay for proposed projects that would primarily benefit the country's cities.
Trudeau blasted for passport redesign
Earlier Saturday, Daniel Hannon, a member of the British House of Lords and a prominent Brexit campaigner, delivered a speech to the convention blasting Trudeau for allegedly unpatriotic acts taken by his government.
A reoccurring theme of the Conservative convention is Tory disgust with the government's redesign of the passport.
On Trudeau's watch, the document was stripped of references to notable events in Canada's history, including the country's First World War victory at the battle of Vimy Ridge.
The government also dumped images of Terry Fox, who became a national hero with his Marathon of Hope, Quebec City's historic old quarter and the Famous Five trailblazing Canadian women who helped advance women's rights.
These changes have been interpreted by many Conservatives delegates as an attempt to erase Canada's history.
"Who would want to efface the images of your history from the passports? Who would want to replace the pictures that tell your story with generic shapes and patterns that could come from anywhere?" Hannon said.
"Canadians are not a random set of individuals who happen to qualify for the same passport," he said. "Canadians are a nation and not just any nation — they're bound together by shared stories and shared dreams."
Poilievre shares Hannon's position that the country should embrace a more robust form of national pride. In his keynote address Friday, Poilievre said Trudeau's trying to suppress Canadian patriotism.
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| CANADA'S ALCOHOLIC TORY FIRST PRIME MINISTER |
"Justin Trudeau wants to cancel our proud history, erasing it from our passports," Poilievre said. "Why? Because there can be no heroes but him."
"This business of deleting our past must end. And this is a matter on which English Canada must learn from Quebec. Quebecers — and I'm saying this in English deliberately — do not apologize for their culture, language or history. They celebrate it. All Canadians should do the same."
‘Social’ issues distract from Poilievre’s focus
on economy, affordability
By Alex Boutilier Global News
Updated September 9, 2023 4:23 pm
VIDEO
The Conservative grassroots voted overwhelmingly to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth under the age of 18 on Saturday, distracting from leader Pierre Poilievre’s focus on economic and affordability issues.
Poilievre, in his message to party faithful Friday night, tried to keep the message firmly focused on the economy and affordability issues, two of the most pressing preoccupations for Canadians at the moment, and issues for which the Conservatives typically enjoy an advantage.
However, Conservative members voted 69 per cent in favour of banning “life altering medicinal or surgical interventions” for Canadians under 18 experiencing “gender dysphoria and related mental health challenges.”
The new policy follows moves by conservative governments in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan to restrict trans youth under the age of 16 from using their preferred names or pronouns at school without parental consent.
“Transitional gender surgery is a significant and substantial decision for any adult to make … Children, on the other hand, are not equipped to make that decision,” said delegate Scott Anderson, speaking on behalf of the B.C. riding that sponsored the policy.
Lisa Bonang, a family physician from Nova Scotia, spoke passionately against the motion and argued that “age alone does not determine the ability to consent” to medical care.
“This policy stands against the values of our party to embrace freedom and bodily autonomy. A vote for this is voting against what you say you’re all for, and is pure hypocrisy,” Bonang said.
VIDEO 0:49 Most say they support LGBTQ2 Canadians: Poll
As with anti-abortion policy debates at previous conventions, the motion around medical care for trans youth – as well as motions about “single-sex spaces” and affirming the right to refuse medical treatments like vaccines – also distracts from Poilievre’s focus on economic and affordability issues.
Poilievre told reporters earlier this week that he would not be bound by whatever policy positions his party’s base adopted at the convention. While the policies may not necessarily translate into Poilievre’s eventual election platform, they do provide a sense Conservative grassroot priorities.
Freedom of speech issues, promoting Canadian energy products and a more muscular approach to foreign policy and defence issues all figured prominently among those priorities – with most policy motions passing with strong majorities.
VIDEO 3:23
Delegates also passed a new high-level statement on environmental policy, focused on the need to protect a “clean” climate – with one member referring to environmental issues as a major electoral weakness for the Conservatives.
The motion was not without its detractors, however, with one Alberta delegate suggesting it opened the door for “eco-radicals” to attack Canada’s oil and gas industries.
Speaking to delegates Friday evening, Poilievre delivered a long speech drawing from interactions he said he had while on a cross-country tour this summer. He took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and promised to ease Canadians economic anxieties should a Conservative government get elected.
“An economy where the people who build our homes cannot afford to live in them is fundamentally unjust and wrong,” Poilievre said, speaking of Canadians he met during his cross-country tour this summer.
“The family that saw its mortgage payments increase by $1,000 a month, that family’s not angry. They’re just afraid they won’t be able to keep their family home.”
5:37 Could ‘densification’ fix Canada’s housing crisis?
Policy aside, the Conservatives head into the fall flush with cash and riding high in national opinion polling. Abacus Data recently reported a 14-point lead over the governing Liberals.
In a poll conducted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, surveying 3,595 voting-age Canadians,Abacus put Poilievre’s Conservatives at 40 per cent of the national vote, with the Liberals trailing at 26 per cent and Jagmeet Singh’s NDP at 19 per cent.
The Abacus poll – which is considered accurate within 1.7 percentage points – had the Conservatives ahead by six points in Ontario, potentially a troubling sign for the Liberals’ re-election chances. But Trudeau and Singh control when the next election will be, and their governing agreement can last as long as 2025.
The Conservatives are attempting to use that time – and the party’s fundraising advantage – wisely, rolling out a $3 million advertising campaign re-introducing Poilievre to Canadian voters.
Speaking to delegates on Friday, Conservative Fund head Robert Staley said the advertising push will continue leading up to the election, as will Poilievre’s crisscrossing the country to meet with Canadians individually.
“With fixed-date elections, we know that other parties and unfriendly special interests groups will spend heavily in the (pre-election) period,” Staley said.
“I’m not going to give you a number, but we have an amount set aside, cash in the bank, agreed upon by the leader, to spend in the immediate pre-writ period, principally on advertising.”
The strengths and limits of Pierre Poilievre's 'common sense'
Tory leader's speech focuses on housing and inflation
— but that's not all Canadians have to worry about
If an election were held tomorrow, polls suggest Pierre Poilievre would defeat Justin Trudeau and become the 24th prime minister of Canada. And if an election were to happen tomorrow, the Conservative leader says the choice would be quite straightforward.
"Canadians will have only two options," Poilievre told the Conservative Party convention in Quebec City on Friday night. "A common-sense Conservative government that frees hardworking people to earn powerful paycheques that buy affordable food, gas and homes — in safe neighbourhoods.
"Or a reckless coalition — of Trudeau and the NDP — that punishes your work, taxes your money, taxes your food, doubles your housing bill and unleashes crime and chaos in your neighbourhood."
The explanation for why Poilievre and the Conservatives have recently come to lead the Liberals in public surveys by substantial margins is probably at least as simple.
For one thing, Poilievre is not Trudeau. If Canadians are unhappy with the current state of things or merely tired of Trudeau's government, Poilievre is offering not just an alternative but something very different.
More importantly, Poilievre is promising that all of the things that currently seem to cost too much — your mortgage, your rent, gas, groceries — would cost less if he was in charge.
This is what Poilievre spends most of his time talking about these days. Probably because this is what most Canadians are most worried about right now.
Poilievre does not have as much to say anymore about the things he used to talk about. There was nothing in his speech on Friday night about "wokeism" or "elites" or the "liberal media." He didn't mention the freedom convoy or extol the virtues of cryptocurrency. He didn't repeat his vow to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada. There was only a winking reference to the World Economic Forum.
He didn't even call the prime minister a "Marxist," which he was recently recorded doing while door-knocking in a byelection.
Savvy pundits would call this a "pivot." But Poilievre pre-emptively dismissed such a thing in an interview last year.
"I am who I am," he told the Calgary Sun.
What Poilievre is talking about now are all the things the Trudeau government is struggling to find simple answers for: inflation, housing and what has euphemistically come to be known as the "cost of living."
And what Poilievre is emphasizing now is "common sense."
He is hardly the first politician to claim it — that vaguely egalitarian and inherently populist notion that flatters its purveyors and supporters while implicitly disqualifying its opponents and critics. Who would dare disagree with something as sensible and universal as common sense? Surely only some out-of-touch snob would attempt to quibble or dismiss something so obvious and true.
Wielded by Poilievre, "common sense" is no doubt meant to contrast with the ideas and schemes of Trudeau and the Liberal government. And there was, in Poilievre's remarks, an explicit promise to get back to the way things were before the Liberals came to office in 2015, as if the last eight years had been some kind of historical aberration.
Easier said than done
But what "common sense" would mean in practice — that is, if Poilievre were to form government — is still largely left to the imagination.
"My common-sense plan cuts waste and caps spending to bring down inflationary deficits and interest rates," he said on Friday night. "My common-sense plan is to have a new funding formula that links the number of federal dollars cities get for infrastructure to the number of houses they allow to be completed."
WATCH | Should the Liberals be worried?:
The end of summer brought with it a new political narrative, with increasing pressure on the Liberal government to help Canadians through an affordability crisis — something the Conservatives have been successfully leveraging. How concerned should the Liberals be about this shifting momentum?
Such things might be altogether easier said than done — and not free of consequences that some Canadians might not enjoy or appreciate. (The Liberals are already linking some federal funding to the construction of new houses.) At the very least, it is not yet possible to know how Poilievre's promises of tax and spending cuts would add up.
But it is impossible to question the validity of the anxious and frustrated Canadians that Poilievre says he encountered — individuals who are dealing with the very real consequences of inflation and a dysfunctional housing market. In the face of such stories, it is hard, and perhaps even foolish, to argue the finer points of global inflation trends.
And it is not hard to see the appeal of the idyllic, 1950s-tinged portrait of an imagined future that Poilievre painted at the end of his speech — one of shopkeepers sweeping storefronts, kids playing street hockey and young couples sitting on front-porch swings basking in the comfort of cold drinks and financial security.
But in the summer of 2023, that pleasant scene could be interrupted by wildfires or blankets of smoke. That couple might not have been on the porch because it was hard to breathe outside. Or because they were forced to flee their home. Or because their house burned down.
Such problems went unmentioned on Friday night. And Poilievre's climate-related commitments remain scant. He is strident in his desire to "axe" the federal carbon tax, and he would also repeal the clean fuel regulations. Otherwise, he says he would focus on clean energy and technologies — "technology, not taxes" is Poilievre's slogan.
After this summer, the "common sense" of having a plan to meet Canada's greenhouse gas emissions targets is all the more apparent.
But for now, it is enough to not be Trudeau and to promise to make life a little bit easier.
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