Pronoun Police: Wab Kinew Wants to Make it Illegal Not to Use Proper Pronouns.

The Manitoba government has decided its priority isn’t fixing health care. It’s not tackling crime. It’s not dealing with rising taxes, failing infrastructure, or a broken education system. Instead, they’ve introduced Bill 43, an amendment to the Human Rights Code, that makes using the “wrong” pronoun a violation of the law.

Manitoba Pronoun Police: Under this proposal, intentionally using a pronoun that doesn’t align with someone’s preference will be considered discrimination. Let that sink in. If you decline to use someone’s chosen pronoun—whether out of conviction, confusion, or principle—the government will classify it as discrimination under human rights law. It doesn’t stop there. The legislation explicitly includes things like dress, hairstyle, makeup, body language, and voice in its definition of “gender expression.” Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the change will bring Manitoba in line with federal law and other provinces.

But when did we, as a province, ask for this? When did the voters of Manitoba decide that policing speech was the government’s role?

This is not progress. It’s government overreach—plain and simple.

Governments are elected to provide core services. They are expected to ensure hospitals function, streets are safe, taxes are reasonable, and public money is spent responsibly. They are not elected to control how people think, speak, or believe. Yet, here we are. This government seems to believe its mandate includes the power to enforce ideological conformity through legal means.

Bill 43 is being sold as a necessary step toward “inclusion” and “equality.” But does anyone honestly think legislating language leads to mutual respect? Passing laws that force people to use certain words—or face consequences—doesn’t foster understanding. It creates resentment. It divides people even further. We’ve seen this play out in other places.

In the UK, for example, similar efforts to legislate pronoun use have sparked public backlash and increased polarization. A 2022 YouGov survey found that 59% of British adults oppose requiring people to use someone’s preferred pronouns by law. People don’t want government intrusion into their personal conversations, whether at work, school, or anywhere else.

Here in Canada, we’re seeing provinces like New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta take a different approach. They’ve implemented rules requiring parental consent before teachers and staff can address students under 16 by a different name or pronoun. Those governments recognize that parents—not bureaucrats or politicians—should be the ones guiding their children through complex issues about identity. Whether you agree with their approach or not, at least they are involving parents in the conversation.

But the Manitoba NDP government is going in the opposite direction. They are telling everyone—parents, teachers, employers, and citizens—that their beliefs and choices don’t matter. What matters is compliance with government-approved language.

This is not the path to inclusion. It’s the path to division.

The truth is, Manitoba already has human rights protections in place. Gender identity and sexual orientation are already recognized under existing laws. If someone is being harassed or denied services based on who they are, they have legal recourse. That’s how it should be. But Bill 43 goes further. It’s not about protecting people from discrimination. It’s about compelling speech, forcing everyone to participate in an ideology they may not share, under threat of legal sanction.

Forcing compliance doesn’t change hearts or minds. It breeds silence, fear, and resentment. People may comply on the surface, but underneath, trust erodes. You can’t legislate respect. Respect is earned. It comes through honest dialogue and mutual understanding, not coercion.

At its core, this debate isn’t about pronouns. It’s about freedom. The freedom to speak according to your conscience. The freedom to hold personal beliefs without being punished by the government. These are the freedoms that make a democratic society work. Once we start sacrificing those freedoms in the name of “inclusion,” we lose something much more valuable.

And while the government is busy regulating pronouns, Manitobans are waiting for surgeries. Emergency rooms are closing. Crime is rising. Taxes are going up. Roads are falling apart. Where is the government’s focus? Not on the basics. Not on the real priorities. Instead, they’re pushing a bill that will distract, divide, and waste more public resources on legal battles.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Manitoba has some of the worst health-care wait times in the country. A 2023 report showed the average wait time for hip replacements in Manitoba was 50% longer than the national benchmark. Violent crime rates in Winnipeg are rising, with Statistics Canada reporting a 10% increase in violent crime severity in 2022 compared to the previous year. We have real problems. But the NDP wants to talk about pronouns.

This is tragic governance. It’s a failure to prioritize. And it shows just how far this government is willing to go to enforce its worldview on Manitobans.

It’s time to ask: who’s next? If the government can dictate pronouns today, what will they regulate tomorrow? What words will you be told you can’t say next year? What beliefs will you be forced to deny in order to keep your job or stay in business?

We’re seeing the slow erosion of free expression. And it’s happening while most people are focused on making ends meet, caring for their families, and trying to navigate an uncertain world. This isn’t fear-mongering—it’s common sense. Once the government claims the right to control speech, they rarely stop there.

This isn’t a hypothetical argument. It’s happening right now. People have lost jobs and been dragged before human rights tribunals for failing to use certain pronouns. Take the case of teacher Josh Alexander in Ontario. He was suspended for expressing views on gender and pronouns that conflicted with his school’s policy. Whether you agree with him or not isn’t the point. The fact that he faced disciplinary action for expressing his beliefs should concern everyone.

Bill 43 opens the door to similar situations here in Manitoba. Teachers, employers, and even everyday citizens could face legal complaints for what they say—or don’t say. And while the government frames this as “progress,” it’s really about power.

Wab Kinew should focus on delivering core services, not enforcing speech codes. We need elected officials who respect our freedoms, not those who chip away at them under the guise of inclusion.

Manitobans should be deeply concerned about where this is heading. It’s time to say no to government overreach. No to laws that force speech. No to policies that divide us. And yes to common sense, free expression, and real priorities.

That’s the Manitoba I believe in. Let’s make sure it stays that way.