By following in the footsteps of other Canadian provinces and announcing the most restrictive policies to date for trans minors, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has outraged the federal Liberals and fueled their attacks on the entire conservative family .
A quarrel with Ottawa which is welcome in Alberta, but which incidentally trapped federal colleague Pierre Poilievre, who ended up being forced to speak out… lip service. Indeed, the Conservative leader still stubbornly refuses to reveal where on this front a government of which he would be at the helm would be located.
The series of measures unveiled by Danielle Smith casts a much wider net than those introduced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Parental consent for a change of first name or pronoun at school; Parental warning for 16-17 year olds. Parental consent before participation in sex education classes; pre-authorization with the government of all new equipment.
And Mme Smith doesn’t stick to the school system. His government will ban sex reassignment surgeries for minors (those on the lower body are in reality already limited to adults). Hormonal therapies and puberty blockers will be prohibited for those aged 15 and under; conditional on the consent of a parent, a doctor and a psychologist for 16-17 year olds. The Prime Minister promises more psychological support and attracting specialist doctors to Alberta.
In the name of so-called “parental rights”, brandished by more and more right-wing politicians to attack the rights of sexual minorities, Mme Smith actually promises to harm parents of children wondering about their gender and wishing to explore this path together with their treating doctor. Libertarianism has found its limits: these conservatives are advocating state interference in family life and health care in certain households.
Gender dysphoria among minors sparks debate and discussion. Opinions are indeed divided among the population. Although, in a Léger poll in October, support for supervision in schools was found to be a little less popular… in Alberta.
Health and education are also under provincial jurisdiction; Premier Smith is within her rights. However, such public policies are normally developed on the advice of the responsible ministries, themselves informed by experts. The committee of wise people created by the Quebec government – although imperfect, weighed down by its lack of trans or non-binary representation – allows us to hope for reasoned reflection. The policy of Mme Smith, without figures or studies presented in support, conversely has everything of an ideological decision.
Pierre Poilievre used this provincial jurisdiction to avoid commenting on the subject for as long as possible. Legitimate questions from journalists have been labeled as disinformation. Members of his caucus were muzzled. Pounded for a week, the Conservative leader ended up speaking out against puberty blockers for all minors, saying he wanted to “protect children” so that they make “adult decisions when they are adults.”
It is impossible, however, to get him to specify whether he would ban them if he is elected prime minister. Mr. Poilievre has also never revealed what he would do with the resolutions of his own activists, who called in Congress for a ban on “surgical or medical interventions” on minors, as well as on toilets, prisons and mixed changing rooms.
The silence of the Conservative leader could not be a preferred avenue for too long. Its members were in danger of becoming impatient.
A skillful orator, Mr. Poilievre — who has denounced a “radical gender ideology” behind closed doors — cultivates a deft ambiguity in front of the cameras. But if, in his eyes, his conservative activists deserve to have an idea of his thinking, all voters should also be entitled to know the depths of it.
The indignation of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, for its part, was proclaimed loud and clear almost every day. Although it is partly sincere, this anger also allows them to decry the “ideological aggressiveness” of their rival.
This political recovery, on the right as on the left, leaves in its wake too many young people from the LGBTQ+ community worried that they will emerge from this entire unfortunate debate even more stigmatized.
There is reason to carefully monitor this right-wing cabal for “parental rights”. An obscure group associated with the organization Prolife Alberta has just surveyed Albertans about the right of parents to consent to any abortion performed on a minor patient.
These are so many crusades which raise fears of significant setbacks for sexuality education and the reproductive health of young people, which we believed to have been protected for years. Wrongly, one must believe.