"A pregnant person is a person who is pregnant."
That's the answer Canada's top public health official gave when a Conservative MP asked her to define a term her own agency uses. The clip from Parliament Hill is now making the rounds online.
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The Setup
The exchange took place at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research on November 3, according to The Epoch Times and Juno News. In the hot seat was Nancy Hamzawi, president of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Rebel News reports that Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed her to lead the agency in June 2025.
The questions came from Vincent Neil Ho, the Conservative MP for Richmond Hill South, per Rebel News.
Ho started broad. On women's health, he asked, what matters more to PHAC: "Is it biological reality or is it gender ideology?"
"I don't have one preferred over the other," Hamzawi replied, according to Rebel News. "Our bottom line from a public health perspective is to understand where the most significant risks are for various populations."
"A Pregnant Person Is a Pregnant Person"
Then Ho got specific. He pointed to an April 2026 PHAC document, which he described as a 6,000-word piece on inclusive language that uses "pregnant people" instead of "pregnant women." The Epoch Times identifies it as the "Summary of approach to inclusive language in vaccine guidance from NACI," from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
"What is a pregnant person? Can you give Canadians a plain language definition?" Ho asked.
"A pregnant person is a person who is pregnant," Hamzawi said.
How does that differ medically from a pregnant woman? "A pregnant person is a pregnant person," she replied.
Point of Order
When Ho asked how a pregnant person who is not a woman gets pregnant, the hearing hit the brakes. Rebel News reports a Liberal member raised a point of order, questioning whether the line of questioning was relevant to the study. The chair, Salma Zahid, asked that questions stay within the scope of the study, as seen in the video.
Ho kept going. "I've got four senior officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada," he said in the clip, arguing they should be able to answer "a simple question about biological realities."
"There are pregnant people who do not identify themselves as women," Hamzawi said.
"How Does a Man Get Pregnant?"
Ho went straight at it. Can a man get pregnant?
"A person who identifies as a man who has the biological capability to be pregnant is pregnant," Hamzawi answered, per Rebel News.
"I know how a woman gets pregnant," Ho said in the video. "How does a man get pregnant?"
"A person who chooses to identify themselves as a man, and has the biological ability to be pregnant, is pregnant," she said, as quoted by The Epoch Times.
Ho then moved to the document's use of "birth parent." The Epoch Times reports Hamzawi said "the individual who gives birth to the child is the birth parent of the child." When Ho asked, "Should we stop using the term mother?" Rebel News reports she didn't give a direct answer. The chair then called time on Ho, as seen in the video.
What Does This Have to Do With Science?
According to Rebel News, Ho said he was asking because a witness had told the committee that an erosion of public trust is itself a threat.
He took the fight to X afterward. "Our own Public Health Agency can't even clearly define the language it publishes in its public health guidance...or tell Canadians whether a man can get pregnant," Ho wrote, per Rebel News. "This is what happens when Liberal identity politics take priority over clear communication about biological reality."
Juno News reported that Ho's post had 204,000 views by the evening of the hearing.
The Bottom Line
What does the document say? The Epoch Times reports it recommends gender-neutral terms like "pregnant people" or "pregnant individuals" to "achieve both inclusivity and representation." It also says anatomy-based language wasn't assessed because identifying people by body parts can be "dehumanizing."
PHAC's position is that some people who are pregnant don't identify as women. Ho's position is that Canadians deserve a plain-language answer. Either way, the internet has picked a side, and it's still arguing.
Image: House of Commons committee video via Wiretap Media on X
