Gender identity not on party agenda: Bernier
People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier says his party’s policies will not include anything to do with abortion or gender identity, despite the fact its first candidate besides him is a vocal social conservative.
Bernier is defending the appointment of former Christian talk-show host Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson to be the Burnaby South byelection candidate for the party he founded after parting ways with the Conservative party in August.
In an interview, Tyler Thompson said her foray into politics began in 2017 when she learned about a B.C. government policy to teach sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools. She campaigned hard against the policy, running for the local school board in Burnaby last fall with that as her main issue.
She finished 11th out of 13 candidates but said she got enough votes to convince her she was speaking for a “silent majority” who stay quiet so they aren’t called bigots but feel the way she does about not exposing children to an ideology at school.
“I got 15,622 votes,” she said. “The other side was extremely surprised.”
Bernier said any of his candidates is free to speak out against abortion or gender identity but their views will not be the party’s policy.
“That’s all personal belief but it is not part of our campaign,” he said. “She understands that she will fight for our platform and being sure we will be able to implement our bold reform.”