Photo: Contributed

Tara Armstrong is doubling down on controversial statements she made in the legislature, and the swift rebuke she got from her political peers.

Tara Armstrong is doubling down on controversial statements she made in the legislature, and the swift rebuke she got from her political peers.

"Only in the NDP’s clown world is telling the truth deemed hateful," the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream MLA said in a Friday post on X..

"And it only motivates me more to stand and speak for the women and children in B.C. The truth matters."

Last Thursday Armstrong asked the premier to define “what is a woman?” in reference to the recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling that the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to a “biological woman and biological sex” under UK equality laws.

When the question was raised, Niki Sharma, deputy premier and attorney general, offered a response to Armstrong’s question, saying the government would fight for an inclusive society and said the type of politics being raised are divisive.

“There can be no simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the type of hate that was just raised in this house right now … the type of hate that seeks to deny an identity of people and seeks to create this cloud of fear and mistrust and misinformation about what that identity is in this province,” Sharma said.

Armstrong said in an emailed statement to Castanet that the issue is of concern to her constituents.

"As for why I feel this is important to the people of the Okanagan, what I will say is that I can’t even count how many mothers like me in the Kelowna–Lake Country–Coldstream area shared their deep concerns with me about the brainwashing of children through gender ideology in the SOGI (educational material), as well as the dangerous and irreversible harms being caused by gender transition procedures on minors," Armstrong said.

She called into question the scientific evidence supporting that direction and said that children need reassurance.

"In my capacity, I’ll continue to champion for the rights of everyone, including women and children," she said.

Last week in the legislature, NDP Attorney General, Niki Sharma, wouldn’t respond to the UK High Court’s decision protecting women’s rights or to my question:

What Is A Woman?

Some of you want to hear more about why I asked this question. Here is my answer. ?? pic.twitter.com/5yRPihMsOp

— Tara Armstrong (@TaraArmstrongBC) April 25, 2025

This line of query is not a representation of everyone's needs, said Wilbur Turner, the founder of Advocacy Canada. "This reflects poorly on our community at large."

"As a member of the riding, I doubt there are many who would agree with this and it casts a shadow on us as a society."

Turner said that in all the years he's been in the Central Okanagan, he's found the majority of people are "kind and empathetic."

He's concerned that it sends a message to the trans community that they shouldn't exist and they don't belong, when they need more support.

Turner said trans and gender-diverse people make up approximately 0.33 per cent of the Canadian population according to Statistics Canada in 2021. "They are not a threat to our communities. They are members of our communities. They are our neighbours, coworkers, friends and family."

"The real threats to women and girls, according to RCMP and Statistics Canada data, come overwhelmingly from cisgender men—often partners or family members—not trans women," Turner said.

"Yet you choose to weaponize fear against trans people to score political points. Why?"