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With a federal election underway, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø looked at several claims from a list making the rounds on social media about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's voting record and actions during his time as a member of Parliament and party leader.

While many of the claims are accurate, there are a few that need more context. According to the list, which appeared on , formerly Twitter, and in February and March, Poilievre voted against abortion, silenced MPs from speaking about gay rights and promoted bitcoin as a replacement currency, among other claims. Here's a look at those claims. 

'PIERRE POILIEVRE VOTED TO BAN ABORTIONS'

RATING: Missing context

There is no legislation governing abortion in Canada. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada provisions governing abortion in the Criminal Code. 

Since then, no government has introduced an abortion bill with the exception of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives in 1989; the senate in a tied vote in 1991. 

A keyword search and search of Poilievre's voting record on the House of Commons website shows the abortion-related votes Poilievre participated in were private members' bills.

In 2010, Poilievre of bill C-510, a private member's bill from a Conservative MP that sought to amend the Criminal Code to prevent the coercion of pregnant women to abort. The bill was defeated at its second reading. 

Poilievre voted in favour of a from a Conservative MP in 2012, which proposed creating a special committee to review the section of the Criminal Code "which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth," but the motion did not pass.  

In 2021, Poilievre , another private bill from a Conservative MP, which sought to make it a criminal offence to perform sex-selective abortions. That bill was also defeated at its second reading. 

In 2023, Poilievre of a Conservative MP's private member's bill C-311, which aimed to include pregnancy "as an aggravating circumstance for the purpose of sentencing" and was defeated at its second reading. 

Although the bill didn't specifically reference abortion, critics who pushed back against it and the other bills said they could reopen an unnecessary abortion debate. 

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called bill C-311 on abortion access.

NDP MP Irene Mathyssen and a "Trojan horse" that could open a "Pandora's box in the abortion debate" by recognizing a fetus as a person with legal status. 

Poilievre said his government . A 2023 Conservative party reiterates this position but notes its members may vote freely on "issues of moral conscience" like abortion. 

The party also condemns gender selection through abortion and believes abortion services should be excluded from maternal and child health programs Canada provides to other countries because it is "divisive."

In a 2023 interview with Le Journal de Québec, Poilievre's wife, Anaida, , using the French term "pro-choix."

'PIERRE POILIEVRE INSTRUCTED HIS MPS TO KEEP SILENT ON GAY RIGHTS'

RATING: Lacks evidence

Using a keyword search through Google, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø found no evidence Poilievre directed his MPs to remain silent on "gay rights."

While there is no evidence of a directive, there is some evidence to suggest Poilievre might want to reign in party members' public speech on issues of sexuality and gender, or at least distance their comments from the official party line. 

In June 2024, Poilievre's office an MP who said he would vote against gay marriage during a podcast appearance, saying his comments "don't represent the positions of the leader, nor the policies passed by Conservative Party members themselves."

In 2023, Poilievre's office sent a memo to MPs asking they "please do not talk to media or post on social media" about "parental rights" protests at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø schools. 

The Conservative party's 2023 policy documents note MPs may vote freely on issues like "the definition of marriage." 

Poilievre the 2005 Civil Marriage Act, which legalized same-sex marriage across Canada.

During , Poilievre said he was representing his constituents' view that marriage "ought to be preserved as a union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

However, Poilievre's views about gay marriage appear to have changed since then.

"ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs are free to love and marry who they choose. Same sex marriage is legal and it will remain legal when I am prime minister, full stop," Poilievre said in a statement to media last summer. 

'PIERRE POILIEVRE ADVOCATED TO REPLACE CANADIAN MONEY WITH BITCOIN'

RATING: Misleading

A keyword search found that while Poilievre made statements in support of bitcoin, he did not suggest "replacing" ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø currency with the cryptocurrency. 

During the in May 2022, candidate and Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis accused Poilievre of encouraging people to "cash in their fiat currency, their paper money, and buy bitcoin."

She was likely referring to in March of that year, when he suggested digital currencies could help ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs "opt out of inflation."

"Government is ruining the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø dollar, so ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs should have the freedom to use other money, such as bitcoin," Poilievre said at the event.

In his response to Lewis, Poilievre said, "People can make their own investment decisions. I simply said they should be free to decide whether or not they want to use bitcoin."

A few months after Poilievre made those comments, the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency chain FTX caused bitcoin's value to plummet, though it has since recovered. 

When questioned about bitcoin's fall and his comments in the House of Commons, he believed people should have the freedom to invest in digital currencies. 

"I believe there is only one legal tender, and it is the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø dollar," he said. 

Poilievre does not appear to have mentioned bitcoin publicly since 2022. 

SOURCES

Claims appeared in list March 20, 2025 (), March 20, 2025 () and Feb. 8, 2025 ()

R. v. Morgentaler. Supreme Court Judgments, Supreme Court of Canada . Jan. 28, 1988, accessed March 26, 2025 ()

Mollie Dunsmuir. Abortion: Constitutional and Legal Developments. Government of Canada . Aug. 18, 1998, accessed March 26, 2025 ()

Vote No. 151. House of Commons . Dec. 15, 2010 ()

Vote No. 466. House of Commons . Sept. 26, 2012 ()

Vote No. 125. House of Commons . June 2, 2021 ()

Vote No. 377. House of Commons . June 14, 2023 ()

Peter Zimonjic. Liberals, NDP call Conservative bill a 'veiled' attempt to roll back abortion rights. CBC News . May 11, 2023 ()

House of Commons debate Hansard via House of Commons . Nov. 1, 2010 ()

John Paul Tasker. Pierre Poilievre disagrees with Conservative MP who wants to vote against same-sex marriage. CBC News . June 3, 2024 ()Ìý

Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration via Conservative . Sept. 9, 2023 ()

Anaida Poilievre Galindo, découvrez la femme aux côtés du chef conservateur. Le Journal de Québec . Dec. 11, 2023 ()

Stephanie Taylor. Conservative MPs told not to talk to media, post about 'parental rights' protests. ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø website. Sept. 20, 2023 ()

Vote No. 75. House of Commons . May 4, 2005 ()

Debates of April 19, 2005. Open Parliament ()

Poilievre's position on cryptocurrency criticized | CPC leadership debate. CTV News, on . May 11, 2022 ()Ìý

John Paul Tasker. In a pitch to cryptocurrency investors, Poilievre says he wants Canada to be 'blockchain capital of the world.' CBC News . March 28, 2022 ()

House of Commons debate Hansard via House of Commons . Nov. 17, 2022 ()

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