A reality-based discussion about women’s rights with Nepean Conservative candidate, Barbara Bal
- Gender Dissent with Katherine Jameson Digby
- Apr 17
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 19
By Gender Dissent with files from Katherine Jameson Digby
On the evening of April 11, 2025, seven members of the advocacy group, Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar), converged in the parking lot in front of Barbara Bal’s Conservative campaign headquarters in Nepean, Ontario. The Canadian federal election was 17 days away. They had requested a meeting with Candidate Bal to discuss caWsbar's priorities for women’s rights. Excited and nervous, this was the first time most of them had ever done anything like this, at a time like this.
While the freedom to speak and to ask questions of a political candidate is a democratic right for all Canadians, four of the women, one a grandmother, were concerned for their job security should their presence here at the candidate’s office be made known. Such is the state of affairs for women in Canada, where, to share our concerns or hopes for reprieve from an ideology that has so disastrously infected our laws and policies, can get us in a heap of trouble. So manipulated is our society, that no one can properly define ‘woman’ anymore, without being deemed hateful and phobic.
The women gathered in that parking lot were also keenly aware that one year ago, Canada’s Security Intelligence Service had warned that the (reality-based) 'anti-gender movement' poses a threat of 'extreme violence'. Add the muzzling effect of that CBC headline to the threat of Bill C-63 being put back on the table in the case of another suicidal term of Liberal progressiveness, and it should be easy to understand why most of these women, anxious about being labelled "violent extremists," chose to remain anonymous. Even while meeting with a cop.
Some of the women had previously received dismissive or accusatory responses from their own MPs to their letters asking the government to consider women’s hard-won sex-based rights in policy and law. The testimonies of women’s rights representatives were ignored at the 2017 Senate committee hearings for Bill C-16. And they were told they were making things up when they asked that children not be indoctrinated at school, or that they not be dragged by the psycho-medical establishment into a body-dissociative belief system that gaslights them about their sex.
But this was their chance to finally say the quiet part out loud — to someone who might actually be motivated to do something about it.
Meet Barbara – barbarabal.ca
Candidate Bal’s résumé reflects an impressive and unconventional career path for a woman, spanning decades in military service, policing and public leadership. First as a reserve member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, she has served with the Halton Region and the Ottawa Police Services for over 28 years, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. She has been recognized with the Police Exemplary Service Medal and the Ontario 10-Year Volunteer Service Award.
Unlike her high-flying Liberal opponent — central banker, WEF-Bigwig, and unelected Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, who was foisted on the riding with the expectation of an easy win — Barbara is a well-known, much admired, highly-regarded local. She has lived in Nepean for 25 years, raising her family with her husband, who is also a police officer and a member of the Sikh community. Barbara’s volunteer work with the Nepean Minor Hockey Association, the Nepean Wildcats, and le Conseil d’école Maurice-Lapointe, is testament to her commitment to youth development and education.
Veteran, mother, community leader, volunteer, presently on leave from the police force to run in this election… surely, a more grounded, qualified, civic-minded representative of the Nepean riding does not exist.
With less than three weeks remaining until the election, the caWsbar delegates noted with certain enthusiasm that Merivale Road, the main commercial thoroughfare of this west-end Ottawa riding, was noticeably lacking in signs for Carney. This, even after it was revealed that “someone” was stealing and trashing Barbara’s signs (hundreds of them) and using her signposts.
By contrast, Barbara Bal signs were everywhere, mirroring exactly that which we are witnessing with Pierre Poilievre’s record-breaking campaign rallies, what with airplane hangars bursting at the seams, and all.
The local representatives of caWsbar had received information that Barbara might be receptive to their concerns. With two athlete daughters, Barbara has an interest in caWsbar’s advocacy for reserving women’s sport for women. She had communicated about the sports issue with April Hutchinson — caWsbar spokeswoman and former Team Canada powerlifter.
And so, it was decided, with one of their associates who would be voting in Nepean, that they would go to Candidate Bal, present her with caWsbar’s 7 Issues, and hopefully discuss the three statements in the Conservative Policy Declaration that align with caWsbar’s mission to see women’s sex-based rights restored in Canada:
18. Free Speech The Conservative Party recognizes that open dialogue is the basis of any democratic society. For this reason, the Conservative Party supports freedom of speech for all Canadians. The Conservative Party will promote policies and legislation designed to protect freedom of expression (speech) in the public square, including media and internet platforms in accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We will safeguard Canadians’ Rights to create and access content on the internet without government sanctioned censorship and nullify unconstitutional restrictions.
[See the Amy Hamm decision, above]
92. Protecting Children’s Mental and Physical Health A Conservative government will protect children by prohibiting life altering medicinal or surgical interventions on minors under 18 to treat gender confusion or dysphoria, and encourage positive mental and physical health support for all Canadians suffering from gender dysphoria and related mental health challenges.
Remember when Poilievre said, “No” to puberty blockers for children?
102. Women – Protecting Female Sports, Intimate Spaces and Women’s Rights For clarity, the term “woman” used throughout this CPC Policy Declaration means “female person”. The Conservative Party supports the full participation of women in the social, economic, and cultural life of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada believes that women are entitled to the safety, dignity, and privacy of single-sex spaces (e.g., prisons, shelters, locker rooms, washrooms) and the benefits of women-only categories (e.g., sports, awards, grants, scholarships)...
Remember when Poilievre refused to take the bait in a CTV interview and said he was aware of only two genders?
The caWsbar women also had in hand the timely news of caWsbar’s Charter challenge — a lawsuit launched on their behalf against the Federal Government and announced by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms just the week before. The lawsuit seeks an end “to the practice of forcibly confining female inmates of federal prisons with trans-identifying male inmates.” For sure, the delegation thought, this would demonstrate to Barbara their organization’s commitment and the seriousness of their resolve.
Remember when Poilievre promised that if elected Prime Minister, “there will be no male prisoners in female jails"?
Thus were the caWsbar delegates assembled that cold April evening at the Conservative campaign headquarters in Nepean, hoping to encourage Candidate Bal to state publicly these pertinent conservative policies that support the reinstatement of sex-based rights for women, and child safeguarding, as part of her campaign.
And, the meeting did indeed unfold according to plan.
Once seated with the candidate, the caWsbar delegation first presented her with the 2021 book written by caWsbar Board Member and world-renowned athletics coach Dr. Linda Blade with National Post columnist Barbara Kay. In Unsporting: How Trans Activism and Science Denial are Destroying Sport, Blade and Kay examine the dangers of gender ideology in sports and propose a practical plan to restore the female category to females.
Next, they reviewed caWsbar’s “7 Issues” with Barbara, using this handy postcard:
Barbara zipped through the issues, acknowledging her awareness and agreement with Numbers 1 through 6. Of particular note, she commented that, as a police officer, she is keenly aware of the precarious situation for women in rape and domestic shelters, and in prisons. Informed of the brand-new Charter challenge regarding men in women’s prisons, Barbara asked whether a change in government would mean the lawsuit would be dropped? No, the delegation assured her — it would proceed regardless of the party in power.
Barbara paused on Number 7, “Same-Sex Attracted Women,” asking for more detail on this issue. Lesbians in the delegation shared with her their experiences of attempted silencing of their dissent and unwelcome occupation of their communities by men who claim to be lesbian.
Each of the delegates then took turns introducing themselves (most by pseudonym), sharing how gender ideology is negatively affecting their lives or causing them harm and why they support caWsbar’s efforts to protect women’s sex-based rights.
“Tammy” talked about the pervasiveness of progressive ideology in her workplace, where washrooms are being redesigned and designated as inclusive for “all users in their full human diversity to use freely and easily regardless of their gender identity.” Tammy also spoke of the ongoing pressure for employees to put their “preferred pronouns” in their signature blocks. She said she fears being ostracized by her colleagues or suspected of transphobia by her workplace DEI “Champions” for failing to do so. Tammy’s concern of being overlooked for promotions and opportunities, and of being “disciplined” should she speak out against the ideology, is entirely validated by Amy Hamm’s experience.
“Sarah” came to the issue in 2015 when she was volunteering at Vancouver Rape Relief in the era when angry, entitled males nailed a rat to the door of the shelter in protest at being excluded from its operations. She advised that now her workplace has become much more complicated since the Bill C-16 legislative amendments and resulting policy changes that currently allow men to declare themselves to be women.
“Maria” is a researcher who immigrated to Canada three years ago. She opposes gender ideology because she thinks it disproportionately targets gender-non-conforming kids who may simply grow up to be gay. She advised Barbara that gender ideology also prohibits single-sex social and dating spaces by requiring that members be admitted on the basis of their self-declared identity, and not on the basis of their sex.
“NatLaPirate” opposes the use of Lupron on children to block puberty (a common first step in the gender-medicalization process). She had been prescribed the drug herself in her late twenties and experienced severe side effects that she says no child should experience. She particularly opposes the erosion of sports categories for girls, when sports are such an important confidence-builder, providing community and health support.
“Leah” was the youngest to speak, a graduate of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board during their peak years of promoting gender ideology in the late 2010s. She watched many of her classmates get swept up in the gender movement, some to the point of medicalizing.
“Katherine” has two children who recently graduated from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. She considered gender ideology a bad joke — until an August 2021 email to parents from the OCDSB clarified that the Board’s commitment to gender ideology now meant that all males would be granted access to all female bathrooms, change rooms and sports, provided they declared an appropriate gender identity. Her attempts over the last three years to engage with the OCDSB over their commitment to gender ideology have yielded little.
Haelie is another young woman who watched friends get swept up in the gender movement. A serious romantic relationship ended abruptly when she refused to condemn a particular gender-critical tweet. Haelie was a serious rugby player in her younger years and worries about the injury potential of admitting males to play high-contact women’s sports like rugby.
Huge 'transgender' rugby player injures three women during game - Rebel News
The meeting concluded with a discussion about how the Liberal Party introduced Bill C-16 — apparently oblivious to the instant and dangerous conflict of rights it would create between women and transgender-identifying men, or of the negative outcomes that would result for women, children, and people who are same-sex attracted.
The delegates explained that a caWsbar associate has received a largely redacted response to her ATIP request about the Gender-Based Analysis (‘plus’) that the government was legally obliged to conduct as part of the process of developing Bill C-16. The redacted information could shed light on how many of the egregious consequences of Bill C-16 were foreseeable in 2016. This information could help chart a pathway back to a legal landscape where women keep their spaces, same-sex-attracted people are allowed to gather without interference from the opposite sex, and every child has a right to go through an unmedicated, natural puberty.
Candidate Bal was generous with her time and listened attentively and sympathetically to the concerns raised by the caWsbar delegation. She heard that caWsbar remains disappointed that none of their concerns have been addressed during the Conservative campaign thus far — and that they sincerely hope to hear them acknowledged before election day.
Barbara referred to the past media statements by Pierre Poilievre, which many women in the ‘underground’ have clung to as a genuine signal of the Conservative Party's intent to restore women's sex-based rights, should they form government after April 28.
The caWsbar delegation was truly appreciative of Barbara's time and her indications of her support for their cause. But until women hear those public commitments from candidates with a real chance of winning (and Candidate Bal believes she will), it will remain difficult for reality-based voters to confidently place their X beside anyone’s name.
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