Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre flipped a question back onto a news reporter when the journalist asked him about his stance on gender ideology in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s first moves in office.
CP24 News Anchor Phil Perkins asked Poilievre how he felt about Trump’s recently signed executive order, which mandates the United States government to only recognize two genders.
“Do you have any other genders that you’d like to name?” Poilievre asked Perkins.
Past interactions with journalist and Poilievre have gone viral including the famous apple-munching clip, when he challenged a reporter alleged he was taking a page out of Trump’s playbook
Perkins said he was just asking the question.
“I’m not aware of any other genders than men and women. If you have any other that you want me to consider, you’re welcome to tell me right now,” said Poilievre.
Perkins only named three: men, gender neutral, and transgender.
“I’m only aware of two. If you come up with another list, then you’re welcome to do that,” said Poilievre. “But I’m aware of two. And, as far as I’m concerned, we should have a government that just minds its own damn business and leaves people alone to make their own personal decisions. That’s the kind of government I’m going to run.”
Perkins continued by saying that the Liberals currently allow Canadians to put gender neutral on their passports and asked whether Poilievre would do the same.
The Conservative leader said it was an odd thing to be focused on given the economic disarray the country found itself in.
Poilievre said that 25% of Canadians were living in poverty. He added that housing costs have doubled while crime rampages through the country’s streets.
“My priority is to give people back control of their lives… If the Liberals want to talk about different labels for gender that they want to put on passports in the United States, they can do that,” said Poilievre. “I’m going to talk about the things that will bring home Canada’s promise.”
Poilievre was questioned about the same executive order in a different interview on Wednesday.
During this French interview, he was a bit more specific, saying that he’d bar men from entering women’s prisons, bathrooms, and sports.
The Alberta government previously passed bills that implemented similar policies, focused on protecting parental rights and banning child gender transitions. Poilievre previously praised Smith’s “common-sense protections.”
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani similarly sponsored a petition to halt gender-affirming procedures for minors.
“We’re going to protect women. That’s common sense,” said Poilievre.
The other side of the political spectrum saw the Liberals make all washrooms on Parliament Hill “gender neutral.”
The executive order signed by Trump is a lengthy document titled “Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” reads one clause of the Executive Order. “‘Sex’ shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. ‘Sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.’”