By Colette Derworiz and Dean Bennett
Canada’s health minister says Alberta’s proposed changes to rules surrounding transgender youth will put children at risk.
Mark Holland says one of the main reasons why children commit suicide is due to questions and apprehensions around their sexual identity.
Holland says he plans to meet soon with Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange to find an “off ramp” to the policies announced Wednesday by Premier Danielle Smith.
“I thought we were at a place in this country where we’re moving past this,” Holland told reporters in Ottawa Thursday.
“It’s extremely dangerous to engage in this kind of thing, which I think is playing politics when you’re talking about children’s lives.”
Smith said her government is introducing policies that will include requiring parental consent for students 15 and under who want to change their names or pronouns at school.
Students 16 and 17 would not need consent, but their parents would have to be notified.
Smith also said there would be restrictions around hormone therapy and surgery for transgender teens and participation in sports for transgender females.
Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said it was too soon to comment on court challenges to Alberta’s policies.
“They’ve announced what they're thinking about doing. They've not tabled anything. There's no legislation,” said Virani, standing alongside Holland.
He agreed with Holland’s concerns that Smith is putting vulnerable children at risk.
“I think actually targeting that small minority for some political purpose in Alberta — as it seems that the premier is doing — is not becoming of her office and is in fact actually targeting and perhaps even demonizing those children,” said Virani.
Smith announced the changes in a video posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and said they came after discussions with her United Conservative Party caucus.
She was set to hold a news conference later Thursday.
Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley described the changes as “horrifying.”
She said Smith is imposing a “cynical and cruel” program that targets vulnerable youth and invades on private medical decisions to appease a powerful fringe extremist wing of Smith’s UCP.
“At its core, Danielle Smith is playing dangerous politics with the lives of young people,” Notley told reporters in Ottawa.
Notley said her party will do what it can to pressure Smith’s government to reverse the changes, but said it comes down to LaGrange doing her job under the Charter to ensure equitable delivery of insured medical services for all.
Notley also criticized Smith for proposed changes to sex education in schools.
Smith said parents would have to be notified and give consent for their children to be taught about gender identity, human sexuality and sexual orientation. All third-party resource materials used to teach these subjects from kindergarten through Grade 12 would have to be approved by the education ministry.
“Danielle Smith is proposing to make Alberta the only province where parents have to now opt in or, put another way, actively ask for sexual health education,” said Notley.
“This will result in thousands and thousands and thousands of kids being left out of this program — a program that teaches safe sex, birth control, consent.”
LGBTQ advocacy groups harshly criticized the changes.
Egale Canada and Skipping Stone Foundation said in a joint statement they would bring legal action if Alberta moves ahead.
Harini Sivalingam with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which is challenging a similar pronoun policy in New Brunswick, said Alberta's changes are a "clear and blatant attack on freedom.
"We are closely monitoring the developments in Alberta and support advocacy efforts to use all legal tools available to protect rights and freedoms of trans and gender diverse people in the province and across Canada," Sivalingam said in a release.
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick rules last year requiring parental consent for students to change their names or pronouns, but with the age set at 16 and under.
Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich, a law professor with Carleton University, who specializing in children’s rights, said her main concern is that the changes deal with a group of children who are already the subject of mental health issues, depression, violence and bullying.
Her secondary concern is that it's political dog whistling, she said.
"It's a new way to be homophobic," Jaremko Bromwich said in an interview.
"People get more nuanced and subtle with their language as the discourse progresses.
"I'm cynical about the extent to which it is, you know, politicking. And it is at the expense of vulnerable children."
Banner image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol
