Health Minister Mark Holland (L) looks on as Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 1, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)
Alberta’s sweeping changes restricting medical transition for children as well as requiring women-only sports leagues were met with support from family groups, and opposition from some federal, provincial, and municipal politicians and other groups.
“Let me say how very pleased PAFE [Parents as First Educators] is with Premier Smith’s leadership on these issues, even if we disagree with parts of it,” wrote PAFE President Teresa Pierre in a Feb. 1 release.
“Smith’s announcement of yesterday shows that the momentum in favour of parental rights continues in Canada!”
Jeff Gunnarson, president of the pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), called the announcement a “political miracle.”
“With these new policies, a Canadian premier has essentially told the seemingly unstoppable transgender movement to stop in its tracks and leave Alberta kids alone. I commend Premier Smith for her proposed policies that will go a long way in protecting children and safeguarding the unreplaceable parent-child relationship,” Mr. Gunnarson said in a Feb. 1 release.
Chris Elston, also known as “Billboard Chris,” a father and activist against gender transition for children, said the announcement is an “excellent start.” Mr. Elston has garnered fame in Canada and the United States for wearing a sandwich board with messaging against puberty blockers for children, and venturing out to engage in dialogue with the public on the issue.
“It does not go far enough, and Premier Smith uses the language of gender ideologues, but the spell that the cult of gender has cast across Canada is breaking,” he said on X on Jan. 31.
Prominent psychologist Jordan Peterson also chimed in, reacting to the news on X, writing, “Albertans for sanity!,” while U.S.-based author and commentator James Lindsay said people should come to support Ms. Smith as she will “get attacked viciously” over her stance.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers the state of the province address in Edmonton on Oct. 25, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Jason Fransson)
“The struggle session will be intense, and since she tried to lead with compassion and compromise, she may not make it through this one,” Mr. Lindsay said on X on Jan. 31.
The group Blueprint for Canada, which supported a number of candidates against gender ideology in schools in Ontario’s last trustee election, said Alberta’s new policies are needed in all provinces and territories in Canada.
“That rumbling sound you hear is the start of a political and cultural earthquake shaking the alt-left political establishment in Canada right now and not a moment too soon,” the group said on X on Jan. 31.
Ontario trustee Mike Ramsay said Ms. Smith’s new policies on the issue seem to have the right balance, and tagged Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce on X to bring the new announcement to their attention.
“If the written policy mirrors what Hon. [Danielle Smith] is saying, it appears to strike a reasonable balance,” Mr. Ramsay, trustee for the Waterloo Region District School Board, wrote on Feb. 1.
The new policies ban gender reassignment surgeries in the province for those aged 17 and under, as well as puberty blockers or hormone therapies for children 15 years of age and under. Transgender athletes will also be kept out of women-only leagues, while schools will be required to get parental consent if a child wishes to change pronouns at school for students under the age of 16, and to notify parents of the change if the child is 16 or 17 years old. As part of the new changes, parents will also have more control over what content their children get exposed to in school when it comes to issues of gender identity and sex education.
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland was among several Liberal MPs and cabinet members denouncing the new policies.
“I am deeply disturbed,” Mr. Holland told reporters on Feb. 1.
“We know that one of the number one reasons why kids take their lives is problems around sexual identity. And that the ability to be who you are is so vitally important. ... I thought we were in a place in this country where we were moving past this.”
Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani accused Ms. Smith of “targeting trans and gender-diverse youth.”
“As a parent, my heart breaks for young 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Alberta who are being targeted by Ms. Smith’s harmful and misguided policy,” he wrote on X.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek wrote on X on Jan. 31 that the new policies “have placed the trans community in harm’s way once again.”
“It has taken no time for the misinformation campaigns and threats to ramp up on social media,” she said.
The Alberta NDP has fiercely criticized the new policies, saying they target “two-spirit and transgender youth.”
“Smith is using this highly sensitive issue and the misinformation surrounding it to distract, to divide and to ask Albertans to look away from the many issues that she and her government are actually failing on,” Ms. Notley said at a Feb. 1 press conference.
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said he is worried about how the new announcement “will impact the safety of some of our most vulnerable students.”
“We are concerned about the chilling effect places on classrooms and schools, impacting our ability to provide safe, caring and inclusive spaces for all students,” Mr. Schilling said in a statement on Jan. 31.
In a press conference on Feb. 1, Ms. Smith said the issue shouldn’t be politicized.
“For children who identify as transgender, I want you to also know that these policies are being implemented in order to protect the choices you have regarding altering your physical body until after you’ve grown mature enough to make such choices safely, and with a full understanding of what that means for the rest of your life,” she said.
