Conservative Leader Poilievre Affirms Belief in Biological Sex
The Story: In a recent interview with Toronto’s CP24, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre answered a question about US President Donald Trump’s affirmation of biological sex by telling the interviewer, “I’m not aware of any other genders than men and women. If you have any other[s] that you want me to consider, you’re welcome to tell me right now.” When asked about Canada’s gender-neutral passport option, Poilievre answered, “we’ve got 25% of our population in poverty, housing costs have doubled, crime is rampaging through our streets—I just find it to be a strange priority to spend time talking about this.”
The Significance: Mercifully, the age of Conservative politicians refusing to answer basic biological questions is now over. On the issue of transgenderism, truth is prevailing.
As we celebrate this remarkable cultural development, we should praise God for the political courage of leaders such as former New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and, more recently, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe who boldly took stands on these issues. Even in a shifting political climate, someone must be the first to speak out and these Premiers answered the charge.
Second, we should remember the power of speaking the truth at all times. Although not a Christian, Czech dissident Vaclav Havel wrote persuasively from behind the Iron Curtain that the “power of the powerless” is truth itself. Ideological tyrannies depend on the propagation of lies to maintain cultural power. Because of this, even the smallest declaration of truth is a threat to the entire system. In the case of transgender ideology, the truth about biological sex has begun to halt the once-unstoppable transgender movement.
The man who will very likely become Prime Minister of Canada later this year is now willing to denounce gender ideology. He should be applauded for taking such a position, but the real honour should be reserved for those who quietly and loudly refused to stop speaking the truth about God’s design for gender even when they were deeply unpopular for doing so.
Watch: CP24, “Poilievre says he’s ‘only aware of two’ genders but government should mind its own business”
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Quebec Secularism Law
The Story: The Supreme Court of Canada announced that it will hear a case on the constitutionality of Bill 21, Quebec’s provincial legislation that bars many public sector workers from wearing religious symbols while fulfilling their professional responsibilities, including lawyers, police officers and teachers.
The review announcement comes despite the Province having used the Notwithstanding Clause to protect the law from judicial reversal. Because of this, the Court’s hearing raises questions not only about the constitutionality of the law itself but also about the Court’s potential desire to overturn provincial legislation that has already been protected by the Notwithstanding Clause.
The Significance: As Christians, we are called to follow Jesus’ example—not just in love and living righteously, but also in how we approach important issues. When Jesus was asked about paying taxes to Caesar, he avoided being trapped in the zero-sum argument attempting to infuriate either the Israelites or the Romans. Instead, he redirected the conversation, teaching a greater truth about living fully for God.
This wisdom is crucial when considering issues like Bill 21. The Bill’s baseline of secularism is harmful—stifling religious freedom and laying the groundwork for an increasingly godless society. Christians should absolutely oppose it. However, the current court case against the bill presents a dilemma. While overturning it would be a victory for religious freedom, it would set a dangerous precedent where the Supreme Court undermines the authority of democratically elected governments. This would have a devastating impact on our democratic system.
Rather than being pulled into one extreme or the other, we should follow Jesus’ example by carefully addressing both aspects of the issue. We can speak out against Bill 21 while also calling for a resolution that upholds justice and protects the integrity of democratic governance.
Read More: Antoine Trépanier, National Post, “Supreme Court of Canada will hear challenge of Quebec’s Bill 21 secularism law”
Former Deputy Prime Minister Freeland Enters Liberal Leadership Race
The Story: On Sunday, Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that she is entering the Liberal Leadership race.
Freeland, a former journalist who grew up in Peace River, Alberta, has served as Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister of Finance. In these offices, she has played a lead role on renegotiated trade agreements with the United States and the European Union, Canada’s Covid-19 response, and the Government’s economic decision-making. In December, Freeland announced her resignation from Trudeau’s cabinet, citing a rift between herself and the Prime Minister on Canada’s response to United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threat.
More recently, Freeland has distanced herself from the economic record of the Trudeau Government, even promising the replacement of the carbon tax—the linchpin of the Liberal environmental agenda.
Current polling indicates that Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has a slight edge over Freeland in a largely two-way battle for the Liberal leadership. Other Leadership candidates include Government House Leader Karina Gould, Ontario MP Chandra Arya, Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste, former Quebec MP Frank Baylis, and former Ontario MP Ruby Dhalla.
The Significance: Freeland and Carney’s evident desire to distance themselves from the record of the Trudeau Government demonstrates an important truth about human nature: the desire to evade responsibility.
Both Freeland and Carney played integral roles in the development of Trudeau’s now deeply unpopular economic agenda—Freeland as Minister of Finance and Carney as an economic advisor to the Prime Minister. However, both are now evading any measure of responsibility for the failures of the plan they helped create.
This should serve as a reminder that even our best laid plans are often doomed to failure. Because of this, we should ask ourselves: if all worldly measures of success failed, would we still be proud of what we fight for? If we would instantly distance ourselves from our convictions the moment failure arrives, we should immediately ask why.
Meeting failure while fighting with true conviction is a far better fate than to simply flitting from one position to another during a prolonged political career. A clean conscience is far more valuable than any measure of worldly political success.
Read More: Catharine Tunney, CBC News, “Freeland pitches herself as tested Trump negotiator, as protesters disrupt Liberal leadership launch”
Quick Hits
Prorogation kills several Government bills: A consequence of Governor General Mary Simon granting Prime Minister Trudeau’s request to prorogue Parliament is that multiple controversial bills have “died”. Prorogation wipes out bills that have not yet passed from the docket, and requires them to be re-introduced at the very first stage. While Parliament can choose to reinstate the Bills, it is highly unlikely that this divided Parliament with a new Prime Minister will choose to do so. The bills include:
- The Online Harms Act (in two parts), which may have made it a crime to state biblical truths about sex and sexuality online, but which also would have strengthened anti-child abuse laws.
- A capital gains tax, which would have resulted in middle-class Canadians paying far more in taxes on one-time sales such as the sale of a family home.
- An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act, which would have extended early voting, made it easier for the largely unaccountable elections officials to punish information deemed “disinformation”, and changed the election day to one week later so that multiple Liberal and NDP MPs would receive full pensions.
Unfortunately, other positive legislation such as a bill intended to help First Nations build water treatment plants also died due to prorogation. Private member’s bills are suspended, but by convention are unanimously returned to their previous stage and therefore are not likely to be as significantly impacted by this.
Pro-Life Liberal leadership candidate narrowly misses ballot cut-off: Michael Clark, a pro-life Christian running for the leadership of the Liberal Party, narrowly missed the signature requirement in order to enter the Liberal Leadership race.
Clark had promised to repeal Bill C-4, which criminalizes Christian counselling for homosexual persons, and had also promised to reverse the Liberal Party’s ban on pro-life candidates. Clark’s effort stands as a noble example of a Christian boldly taking action to stand for God’s truth.
Photo by Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press