Alberta to introduce section to protect three transgender bills from court challenges

The Alberta government has introduced legislation that seeks to invoke this section to protect a group of bills affecting transgender youth and adults from legal challenges.

Premier Danielle Smith said at a press conference on Monday that three ongoing legal challenges to gender policies in health care and education could take years to resolve and create a lot of uncertainty.

“This government doesn’t make changes, no matter what the conditions, unless the stakes warrant it, and in this case, the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Smith said Monday, ahead of the bill’s introduction on Tuesday.

“This is one of the most important actions our government will take during our tenure.”

Three pieces of legislation introduced last year by the United Conservative Party government are under question, with government officials saying they protect the well-being of children and young people and increase parents’ access to information and decision-making power over children.

Critics have criticized this law as a rights violation based on misinformation that unfairly targets transgender youth and adults, as well as women and girls in competitive sports.

Bill 26, passed by the legislature last year, prohibits youth under the age of 16 by reaching Gender-affirming treatments, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. It also prohibits gender surgery for minors. This law was a Canadian first.

The Canadian Medical Association and a pair of 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have challenged the law in court.

In June, A judge granted an injunction Banning the implementation of the law, saying the new rules could be harmful if implemented before the court has heard all the evidence.

Advocacy groups Eagle and the Skipping Stone Foundation are also challenging the law formerly known as Bill 27, which imposed new requirements on how school personnel handle gender identity issues.

Staff must notify the parents or guardians of any student under the age of 18 who wishes to be addressed by a different gender identity name or pronoun. Parents of students under the age of 16 must give school staff permission to use the student’s chosen name and pronouns.

The bill made Alberta the first province to require parents to include students in lessons about sexual health, gender identity or sexual orientation.

The Minister of Education must approve all resources and classroom presenters for lessons on sexual health, gender identity or sexual orientation.

The third bill, the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, requires anyone participating in female-only competitive sports in Alberta to be assigned female status at birth. Some organizations, including school boards, have adopted policies that allow people to anonymously challenge athletes’ gender identity.

In an email statement last week, a spokesperson for Agel said the organization had not launched a legal challenge against the sports bill, but was committed to opposing the legislation.

The minister says, ‘It is needed now.’

Justice Minister Micky Amery said that as evidence and policy evolves about the best standards of care for trans youth around the world, his government is attempting to use the rule to “err on the side of caution” by limiting access to puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.

Although the Prime Minister defended the move by saying that children should have their fertility protected until they are mature enough to make potentially life-changing decisions, medical Experts say that taking puberty blockers alone should not have any long-term effects on a person’s fertility.

In response to a question from reporters about why it was necessary to protect school and sports laws from court challenges, Ameri said the government sometimes did not want to return to the legislature to invoke the clause.

“this needed now. There is a need for a comprehensive proposal that addresses all three of these acts,” he said.

If passed, Alberta’s Child Protection Law Amendment Act, also known as Bill 9, would protect the laws from charter challenges for five years.

It would also permanently suspend the application of the Alberta Bill of Rights and Alberta Human Rights Act laws.

Ameri said that once the bill is passed, courts cannot strike down laws to which the section applies. He said declaring Bill 9 should end all court actions against the bill.

Anticipating that the bill could be introduced in the Legislature on Monday, advocates gathered outside the Legislature in Edmonton against the move.

The opposition called this move ‘cowardly’

Marni Panas, a transgender woman, said the government’s move, no matter what it is, to invoke the pre-emptive clause before the courts have had a chance to consider whether the gender bill violates Charter rights is an attack on human rights and vulnerable youth.

“The justice system exists as a check and balance to political power,” Panas said. “When governments undermine that system to enforce laws based on a leader’s ideology or whims, democracy begins to crumble.”

This is the second time in three weeks that the Alberta government has invoked this section to prevent a court from overturning its laws.

On October 27, the government introduced and passed the Back to School Act on the same day, which forced 51,000 laid-off teachers to return to work, imposed four-year contracts on them, and used the clause to limit court challenges.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association challenged that bill in court, regardless of the clause.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Monday the prime minister’s intention to suspend more powers is “cowardly” and troubling.

“We are taking away the right of parents and doctors to decide the best way to treat their children,” he said. “Where does it end?”