Some of us may recall the mumbling and bumbling detective in the TV series ‘Columbo’ who, despite his awkwardness, would always solve the crime. Throughout each episode, he would come across as muddled and confused until near the end when he would insert his classic line, “Just one more thing.” Then he would lay out some of the troubling conflicts between what people were saying and what the evidence revealed. In the end, it was evidence that solved the crime, not the words of the duplicitous witnesses and suspects.

The 2026 Canada Census questionnaire has caused me to recollect Columbo and say, ‘Just one more thing’. In particular, the two questions regarding sex and gender. The first question asks the person’s sex at birth and provides two options: ‘male’ or ‘female’. The second question asks about a person’s gender and provides three options: ‘male’, ‘female’, ‘non-binary’. It is worth noting that the questionnaire seems to distinguish between sex and gender, so it would seem that a person’s sex at birth never changes but the gender with which they identify may. Statistics Canada is the keeper of the Census, and they explain that these questions align with the 2017 amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Code, which added gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination. (By the way, those grounds were ‘inserted’ by a court decision. They do not exist in the official text of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.)

According to the 2021 Census from Statistics Canada, 1 in 300 (a mere 1/3 of 1%) claimed to identify as transgender or non-binary. While this is a small number, if this is accurate, it means that approximately 132,000 Canadians struggle with gender identity. How some people come to the conclusion that they may be non-binary or transgender varies with each case. Some may have actual chromosome abnormalities such as klinefelter syndrome. Others may have been victims of sexual abuse and are trying to deal with that emotional wounding. Some have been influenced by the planting of seed by authority figures during childhood and adolescence. Any of these three scenarios can be troubling for the individual involved and any person so affected deserves a compassionate response…but not necessarily an endorsement. This is a difficult challenge and raises a question society must answer: Is it possible to truly care for a person dealing with such issues without endorsing their perspective on sexuality and gender? We believe the answer is “Yes!” and we must work diligently to make that a reality.

To further complicate things is the lack of consistency across Canada in the usage of terms “sex”, “gender” and “gender identity”. To illustrate this, let’s look at various provincial blood requisition forms (forms to be completed by the client prior to having a blood sample taken by a lab). The Ontario form has the category ‘sex’ and requires the client to check off either ‘M’ or ‘F’, which suggests that there are but two sexes. The B.C. form (PDF) also has the category ‘sex’ but offers a greater variety of choices being ‘M’, ‘F’, ‘X’ and ‘UNK’. The Alberta form (PDF) does not name the category as ‘sex’ or ‘gender’ but does provide four choices, being ‘Male’ ‘Female’, ‘Non-binary’ or ‘Prefer not to disclose’. The variations between these provincial forms leaves one to wonder, what is the point in asking the question at all?

Sex, gender, gender identity: what do they mean and what don’t they mean are the two questions deserving of an honest and consistent answer. In April of 2025, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a trans-woman is not a woman under the UK 2010 Equality Act. In the ruling, the judges pointed out that the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man and that gender reassignment and sex are two separate concepts. They went on to say that interpreting ‘sex’ as including certificated sex would cut across the definitions of sex in an incoherent way. Following the ruling, the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) submitted its guidance to ensure that trans-women were barred from female washrooms and change rooms.

To deny that there are people who wish they were the opposite sex is to deny reality. Yet, to expect females to share their public intimate spaces (washrooms, change rooms and showers) with males while feeling safe and comfortable is also to deny reality. This is the very reason why the Ontario Human Rights Code has provided an exemption that permits the segregation of public facilities by sex on the ground of public decency. In terms of women’s sports categories, the International Olympic Committee has come to its senses and barred biological males from participating in female events.

At CHP Canada, we maintain that sex and gender are synonyms based in biology with gender identity being a separate category that must not be used to usurp the definition and rights associated with males and females. Oh, and before I go, just one more thing: did you say you are a woman or did you say that you identify as a woman? Biological males who identify as women deserve compassion, not pandering. Biological females deserve privacy. All deserve human kindness.

Jim Enos is the CEO of the CHP Hamilton Mountain EDA and the Ontario Council President for CHP Canada