Trudeau talks awkward school girl skirt-length anecdote at women's conference

CALGARY — Canada's previous PM has gotten into some hot water online for comments about different standards for girls and boys' school uniforms at a women's conference, with many asking — why bring it up?A clip of Justin Trudeau speaking at the 2026 Women Deliver Conference in late April in Melbourne, Australia, shows Trudeau explaining a story quite unrelated to the conference's purpose — speaking about women. Trudeau recounts a tale from his teacher days, where he worked "briefly" at a private school. There he says he started a school newspaper, where he allowed a male student to "write an article because he was frustrated because he was always getting corrected and detention for his untucked shirt or lack of school uniform...".He then goes onto say the kid decided to write an article on how "every girl in the school wore her skirt above her knees...""God forbid," piped in his former Chief of Staff Katie Telford, who was there speaking with Trudeau. "No but that was also the rule — you had to keep your shirt tucked in and you had to have the skirt to the knees," Trudeau countered.He says the student believed this was "totally unfair because of the double standard on applying these rules [between male and female students].".JT says he pushed the student to think about why this was the case — with the student suggesting in his essay "maybe the predominantly male teaching staff was slightly uncomfortable at pointing out to these teenage girls that their skirts were too short.""That it was just awkward for a male teacher to be pointing out that in a deliberate way."In the essay the student said he understood why this may be awkward but "geez, why did you have to come down so hard on me then?"Trudeau claimed he believed it was a "very interesting perspective" which "brought forward an interesting thought challenge.".After publishing the essay the ex-teacher says the newspaper was shut down the next week.Trudeau then attempted to relate the story back to the topic of women empowerment. Tying the story to power, he stated "if someone's just wielding power, or not really responsible my generation had a huge issue with that."Lecturing that kids must be shown respect to learn by example, he stated vaguely it is "a line that everyone must figure out.".He advises the audience to get "allies in the teacher class" who will listen to them, instead of going "alone against the one teacher that you think is out of line or misaligned with you."He says this is the ideal way to "push back," saying this way bullies tend "to crumble."A Saskatchewan Senator, Denise Batters, questioned whether what Trudeau was speaking about was on topic for a women's conference."In this nearly five minute video, Justin Trudeau seems almost oblivious to the fact that he is speaking at a 'Women Deliver' conference," Batters wrote on X..Another commenter on X, Matt Alexander, stated, "Justin Trudeau said he has issues with people in authority who don't deserve it.""He said those in power must be smart and responsible. He said they must demonstrate worthiness of authority.""He said he has issues with people in authority who say dumb things.""Oh my."According to a report from the National Post, Trudeau's speaking appearances cost $100,000 or more — according to the most recent information from late 2025.

Trudeau talks awkward school girl skirt-length anecdote at women's conference

Related Stories

Chilliwack child kidnapping attempt foiled

UPDATED: Mom of Red Deer swarming victim thanks city for support

SLOBODIAN: Stop coddling violent teens — Red Deer’s brutal assault demands real punishment

WATCH: Mississauga teen arrested after pulling BB gun at student