Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced Wednesday the Conservatives’ resolution to ban gender transitions of minors or Quebec’s opposition to gender-neutral toilets in schools.
“We need to be there for each other. […] All these discussions that aim to create division and even hatred have no place in Canada,” he declared during a press conference in southwestern Ontario, on the sidelines of the meeting of its national caucus.
Mr. Trudeau said that “the concern I have” is the increase in hate crimes in society.
He cited the case of the four members of the Muslim Afzaal family who, “here in London”, were killed “horribly because of Islamophobia” in a vehicle-ramming attack.
“We’re seeing Pride parades across the country that need more security or have been canceled due to concerns about violence,” he continued.
According to him, “leaders, real leaders, we are there to protect Canadians, to be there to defend each other while we build a better world.”
Positions taken at the PCC and in Quebec
On Saturday, during their convention on the theme of “common sense”, conservatives voted 69.2% in favor of a resolution aimed at banning gender transitions of minors. An activist then explained that this is an important decision which requires “well-informed consent”, which children would be incapable of.
A Montreal delegate had nevertheless warned her colleagues during the (extremely brief) debates on this resolution that “the Liberals would ask for nothing better than to point out this question and say that we are dividing the country”.
Another transgender resolution sought to restrict access to women’s restrooms, locker rooms, shelters and prisons to “female” people in the name of “safety, dignity and privacy.” She received 86.6% support.
At the National Assembly of Quebec on Tuesday, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, opposed the decision of a secondary school in Abitibi-Témiscamingue which had undertaken work to provide toilet blocks mixed to its students for the 2024-2025 school year.
“We don’t think it’s a good idea. […] The school must indeed rectify the situation,” he continued, adding that he is however open to an individual mixed toilet room.
The minister raised a problem of privacy for adolescent girls who are going through puberty and who could be offended by the behavior of boys.