Tory grassroots vote against surgical, pharmaceutical care for transgender youth
CTV
Conservative party delegates voted Saturday that as a future government, it should prohibit "life-altering medicinal or surgical interventions" for transgender minors.
Conservative party delegates voted Saturday that as a future government, it should prohibit "medicinal or surgical interventions" for gender-diverse and transgender kids.
Members were gathered in Quebec City for the final day of the party's three-day policy convention, where delegates voted on a suite of amendments to the party's policy handbook, ranging in issues from foreign affairs, the environment and health.
The proposal that any future Conservative government prohibit "life-altering medicinal or surgical interventions" for those under 18 who are looking to transition came from a riding in British Columbia.
It passed with assent from 69 per cent of voting members.
The vote comes as the premiers in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick usher in their own changes to education policies that would require schools to seek parental consent if a child under 16 wanted to be referred to by a different name or pronoun.
That decision has been met with backlash and concern from families with LGBTQ+ children, advocates, teachers' unions and the respective provinces' children's advocates.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has not on his own waded into the situation in either province. But when asked New Brunswick's decision earlier this summer, he suggested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should stay out of the issue, saying he believes the matter is one for the province and parents to decide.