By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 25, 2023.

OTTAWA—Protests and counter-protests on the rights of children to use their chosen pronouns were held across the country last week.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh led a counter-protest in Ottawa, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn “hate and its manifestations,” and reiterate his support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community across Canada.

Not surprisingly, Conservative Members of Parliament were silent on the issue, with the Canadian Press reporting that the leader’s office had told them not to discuss the protests with the media or on social media outlets.

A memo, shared with CP, was sent from the leader’s office claiming that protesters against LGBTQ education in the schools have a legitimate point to make about “parental rights.”

Heated clashes in cities across the country led to arrests in Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria, and Ottawa. The issue is heating up as governments in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have introduced legislation requiring students to get their parents’ permission before teachers can address them in their preferred he/she/they pronoun.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office may not be able to stop Members of Parliament from weighing in when so many of them were elected thanks to support they received from social conservatives who do not support LGBTQ education in schools. The fact that the opposition leader is trying to keep a lid on comments shows that he understands the issue is a political hot potato that will win his party no new supporters.

As his party’s numbers climb, Poilievre has to be very careful to appeal to voters who are leery of social conservatism. Chances are the solidarity of potential power will not be enough to silence those in the caucus who got their political feet wet on recruiting social conservatives.

It is no coincidence that when Leslyn Lewis first ran for her party’s leadership in 2020, she was the first choice of Saskatchewan Tories. She swept the province where the premier and his government have recently enacted legislation to prevent minors from changing their pronouns without their parents’ permission.

Anti-trans rallies were organized across Canada last week by a group identifying itself as the “One Million March For Children,” which said it stood against gender ideology. But the marches were countered by groups defending the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Some are concerned that adolescents should not be outed to parents, and others wanted to support those teenagers who have self-identified as trans or gay.

Hate crimes against the gay community are on the rise, according to a report by Statistics Canada released last December. The report stated that police-reported hate crimes increased by 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021, reaching their highest level in five years.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to change the sex education curriculum when he was courting socially conservative voters during his leadership campaign. However, while in government, he was accused of re-introducing a sex education curriculum that was virtually identical to the one he had criticized during his campaign. Ford learned quickly that modifying sex education is probably not a top-of-mind priority for most Ontarians.

Poilievre is likely discovering the same challenge at the federal level. But how is he going to be able to stop his right-wing caucus members from aligning themselves with the thousands who rallied across the country against sex education involving the 2SLGBTQ+ community? The temperature is rising on both sides, so it is difficult to see how the Conservatives are going to be able to stay out of the fray.

And when the leader of the New Democrats makes it his business to lead the counter-demonstration, he obviously understands the political issues at stake.

Most Canadians don’t really involve themselves in the adolescent pronoun debate. However, they do support rights for the LGBTQ community. With the advent of same-sex marriage and support for choice in sexual orientation, most people appreciate the wave of equality that has evolved in the past two decades.

But the small percentage of people who oppose transgender teaching in schools has unleashed the wrath of the silent minority. The number of parents and grandparents who showed up last week to support their transgender progeny could translate into a significant voting bloc in the next election.

If the issue provokes enough interest, it will actually move votes in the next election. Therein the reason why the Tories don’t want to be on the record with any comment when it comes to transgender policies in local school sectors.

Their political silence is golden. But it may not be sustainable.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 7, 2023.

OTTAWA—Party conventions are truly places to party. As a political party is a gathering of like-minded individuals, in a sense, it takes on the ethos of a large family.

In every family, there are those who don’t always agree. And sometimes high-octane gatherings like weddings, funerals and conventions can literally blow up.

Organizers for the Conservative convention in Québec City are hoping for what all political operatives seek: internal party peace.

During most of the year, the fighting spirit of a political activist is focused on the opposition. Their policies, their leadership, their direction are all fair game in the political battle for the hearts and minds of voters.

Conventions are the only place where the cannons are turned inward.

Party policy wonks fight for their favoured positions while volunteers try to support the issues that they think are important.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been trying to keep the temperature down at the convention, with good reason.

This is the first gathering of his clan in five years. And it is likely to be their last national confab before a federal election where they are obviously hoping their guy will win.

As happens in every political party, the pragmatists will battle purists on the convention floor.

Some purists will have been pushing the party to adopt a stronger stance on the so-called “woke” agenda.

Three provincial premiers have already adopted some limitations on the use of pronouns in schools by students without parental permission.

Thus far, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has refused to go down that road, but she is under substantial pressure from her own base to do so.

And that base will be very active at the convention.

Journalists have pointed out that there are no abortion resolutions under discussion.

And some observers wisely explain that away as “The smell of power.”

In a pre-convention interview, Dmitri Soudas, the former communications director for then-prime minister Stephen Harper, put it perfectly: “When the polls are good, Members (of Parliament) have nothing but good things to say.”

Those who work for the current leader are hoping for the same serenity.

But the convention wild card is the volunteer base. Many who are not job-dependent on Conservative success at the polls are motivated by religious beliefs that transcend politics.

Some may do their darndest to get touchy issues like abortion and gender reassignment back on the agenda.

The one elephant in the room that convention-goers have not been able to avoid is a convention resolution on defunding the public broadcaster in French and English.

The current resolution calls for an end to funding the CBC and Radio-Canada. That caught the attention of journalists in the heartland of Quebec as Radio-Canada is seen as the lifeblood of Quebec culture and history.

Any party proposing to shut the place down would do so at their peril.

And the second element to the story is the Conservatives need to gain seats in Quebec to have any chance of forming the government.

A promise to abolish Radio-Canada would make Pierre-Karl Péladeau happy, but would not curry much favour with anyone else.

The billionaire owner of Vidéotron has been campaigning for years to abolish federal funding for the public news channel that rivals his own, but no one has yet been convinced.

Politically speaking, it is hard to get positive media from a news outlet that you are planning to put out of business.

One possibility could be a convention resolution to defund the English—but not the French—CBC.

But that would likely face significant backlash as well as a charter challenge.

Poilievre may believe he has managed to build his popularity through social media, and does not really need to care about conventional news services.

But his constant attacks on multiple news platforms, including The Canadian Press, make him vulnerable to a journalistic backlash.

Before elections, the mainstream messaging is most important on Parliament Hill.

But once the writ drops, the focus of the so-called “legacy media” will make or break the outcome.

A happy weekend in Québec City could set the stage for a march toward a Conservative government.

But if that march trashes the voices of journalists at organizations like Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press, Poilievre’s efforts could be stymied.

When then-Progressive Conservative leader Kim Campbell called the election back in 1993, she was sailing to a clear majority.

A few ill-chosen words turned victory into defeat.

Poilievre needs to take a history lesson before he declares victory.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on July 3, 2023.

OTTAWA—Is Canada broken? Canadians celebrating our national day across the country don’t seem to think so.

And neither does the world.

Just last week, three of Canada’s cities ranked in the top 10 of world livability, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Our most livable city, Montreal, didn’t make the cut but Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary did.

Millions of Canadians who live in other places believe their community is best.

Newfoundland is known worldwide for its friendly people. CNN broadcaster Anderson Cooper made his way to St. John’s, N.L., to cover the tragic loss of the Titan submersible, but could not leave the city without a special shoutout to the generosity of the people.

Just last week, Canada became one of the first countries in the world to guarantee equality in professional sport payments.

Tennis Canada announced the change in a release which said it would fund increased women’s prize money via a hike in the number of days of competition and a revenue share increase with the Women’s Tennis Association.

The announcement means a huge financial boost for women’s tennis. In the 2023 Canadian tennis tournaments next month, men’s prize money is $7.623-million while the women’s purse is only $2.788-million.

It will take five years to reach equality, but women are ecstatic that Canada is taking the lead in an area that will have ripple effects around the world.

The tennis move should also send a message to other sports, where women’s participation is grossly underfunded.

Just last week, millions of Canadians joined in a celebration of our country’s LGBTQ-plus diversity.

From small communities to megacities, Canadians joined to celebrate the right to be who we want to be and love who we want to love.

In Caraquet, N.B., at the same moment New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs was making life more difficult for transgender teens, the community was repainting its crosswalks in pride colours.

Higgs’ obstinacy on transgender issues has cost him several cabinet ministers, and his job as premier is now on the line.

The Progressive Conservative party has already started a process to replace Higgs, largely because of his decision to ram through legislation where schools must inform parents if a student chooses to change the pronoun identifying their gender.

Higgs’ response to cabinet objections was to ignore complaints about his leadership style and simply dump dissenters.

In small and large towns across the country, people wore the pride colours positively in recognition of the fact that Canada is a country where we can embrace our differences.

When the wildfires hit in Nova Scotia, Canadians from across the country reached out to help with financial support and firefighting expertise.

As the smoke still filters across the land, we know that we are in this together.

Do we have problems? Yes, housing affordability is top of the list for young people who cannot pay the high price of housing in most parts of the country.

Homelessness and mental health challenges mean urban centres are magnets for those who have nowhere else to go. In a country like Canada, help for those most in need should be top of mind on our Canada Day to-do list.

The effects of colonization and deculturalization on Indigenous Peoples are only now being tackled in a serious way with financial reparation and collective recognition of the damage that has been inflicted.

Reconciliation is still a work in progress, as is the attempt to build a country where race and religion play no role in your capacity to grow as a person or community.

We are not there yet. But the fact that most Canadians can see equality of race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation as a positive goal is something to celebrate.

The old saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence does not apply here.

The grass is already much greener on our side of the fence.

Canadians don’t need to win a lottery. We have already won in the lottery of life, either having been born or having migrated to a country that strives for success for all its citizens.

Individual rights are not paramount in Canada. And that is a good thing.

Instead, we understand to build a nation we need to strengthen communities, geographic and demographic.

There is much work ahead, but, on this Canada Day, we can say with certainty that our country is not broken.

Instead, we are a work in progress.

Happy Canada Day!

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.