Why Alberta’s new anti-trans policies could be Canada’s harshest yet

Examining Premier Danielle Smith's new policies restricting gender-affirming care, pronoun use in schools and more

Alberta premier Danielle Smith introduced a set of new policies restricting gender-affirming care, pronoun use in schools, and trans womens’ participation in sports in what is probably Canada’a harsest anti-trans legislation to date.

The policy was announced Wednesday in a video posted to social media and follows similar moves in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick but takes it to a new level.

Included in the policies coming down the pipe in Alberta, gender-affirming surgery, including both top and bottom surgery, for anyone under the age of 18 will be banned. 

Anyone 15 years old and under will not be able to access puberty blockers and hormone access.

The province will require parental notification and consent for students 15 years old and under who want to change their names or pronouns at school. And even for 16 and 17 year olds, parents will be notified if they change their name or pronouns at school. 

The province has announced a press conference for later today to further expand on the roll out of this legislation.

Lito Howse (they/them) is a queer and trans/non-binary identified videographer, editor and producer based in Toronto. They previously worked for the CBC where they wrote TV stories, edited and control room produced for News Network. They also produced videos for CBC Radio and wrote web articles for shows like The Current and As It Happens, among other roles. They speak English.

Senior editor Mel Woods is an English-speaking Vancouver-based writer, editor and audio producer and a former associate editor with HuffPost Canada. A proud prairie queer and ranch dressing expert, their work has also appeared in Vice, Slate, the Tyee, the CBC, the Globe and Mail and the Walrus.

Read More About:
Video, Identity, Politics, Video, Trans

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