QUEBEC CITY – Conservative activists gathered at a party conference in Quebec sent a message to their leader that the party should defend the ban on gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
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The motion passed 69% to 31%, one of the most hotly debated resolutions.
“Canada is watching us,” said one activist against the proposal, who argued the party should focus on economic issues.
Another delegate deemed the resolution “hypocritical,” arguing that the party was attacking individual freedoms.
We still don’t know where conservative leader Pierre Poilievre stands on this issue.
The 30 resolutions that activists are debating this Saturday are non-binding. This means that Mr Poilievre can ignore them if he wishes when drawing up the next election manifesto.
The rights of transgender and non-binary people are the subject of increasingly intense political debate, even though the number of Canadians who identify as such represents only a tiny proportion of the population (0.3%).
Conservative activists have made it clear to their leader that the party should dive headfirst into this controversial debate, which is sure to lead to clashes with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
Against positive discrimination
Conservative delegates also voted overwhelmingly, 95% to 5%, for a resolution aimed at eliminating affirmative action in hiring at research institutions that receive federal funding.
“We need to get rid of these woke politicians,” said an activist of Asian descent into the microphone who “wants to be recognized for his skills, not his ethnicity.”
They also voted 80% in favor of a resolution to eliminate mandatory workplace diversity and inclusion awareness workshops.
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