Carney Helps Poilievre Attack Women's Rights

Carney is doing what his voters FEARED Poilievre would do

Carney has betrayed many Canadians since the election, running on a centrist platform before veering right in the ensuing months. But near the top of that list might be Canadian women. While Carney certainly won back some male voters lost during Justin Trudeau’s final stretch, he was incredibly successful as convincing women that he was the only one who could stop Poilievre, who Carney said would attack access to abortion, contraception, and gender equality programs

But as the NDP warned, Carney was simply going to copy Poilievre, and their prediction was spot on. The warning signs for this actually came before the election, but socialists and feminists were shouted down by Liberals as Carney’s preliminary cabinet eliminated a dedicated minister seat for women’s rights. “Be quiet!” they said, lest we supposedly help Conservatives win.

Well lo and behold that Carney just launched a truly brutal cut for gender equality programs in Canada:

Women and Gender Equality Canada expects to see its spending cut by 81 per cent by 2027-28, and staffing levels drop from 444 full-time equivalents this fiscal year to 254 on the three-year horizon

The 2025-26 document for the department, known as WAGE, was released in late June and outlines a $407-million budget this year, which drops to $284.7-million in 2026-27, and $76.3-million in 2027-28.

As this report from The Hill Times notes, many advocates for women are stunned by these cuts, which could be more brutal than the ALREADY draconian ones aimed at the broader federal budget. Adding to this is public educator Julie Lalonde, who pointed out that these cuts to WAGE are worse than those under the previous Conservative government, in which Poilievre was a cabinet minister

Harper cut the department's budget by 60% mere months into taking power and the women's movement in Canada is still trying to recover. In fact, I worked for a national organization that was completely defunded by that cut and we had to close. And that was only a 60% cut!

I’ve already spoken about how Carney’s proposed Bill C-2 threatens essential abortion privacy, but in recent days many women’s rights advocates and medical professionals have sounded the alarm as Carney backs away from the national pharmacare program, closing off access to free contraceptive programs that were pushed by the NDP, and which have been implemented in only 3 provinces. Carney is refusing to expand that access, which physician Amanda Black is calling a “step backwards for women’s health.” So while the Liberal government in New Brunswick is eager to join the Pharmacare program to obtain contraceptives, Carney’s government won’t even return their calls.

• Cutting gender equality spending by 81%

• Putting up roadblocks to contraception access

• Allowing police to get private abortion info without a warrant

These were ALL things that liberal partisans warned would happen with Poilievre.

But they’re happening with Carney here and now.

And as I noted before, Carney doing this helps Poilievre, both by doing his dirty work for him, but also making him appear more centrist as the Liberal and Conservative policy books merge into one.