Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says using the notwithstanding clause to shield her government’s transgender health restrictions is on the table as a “last resort.”
A provincial law will ban doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16. A surgical prohibition already in effect will halt gender-affirming “top” surgeries for minors.
Speaking on her radio call-in show this weekend, Smith said she is willing to invoke the notwithstanding clause, a measure that allows governments to override certain Charter rights for up to five years.
“Because I feel so strongly about protecting kids’ right to preserve their fertility until they’re adults, we would, as a last resort, have to use the notwithstanding clause.”
Way to go, Smith!
The “right to preserve fertility” is kind of a weird and wrong reason here but the intention and the implementation are great so still good enough. Letting minors make decisions like that is crazy and stupid. I’d say the legal age of adulthood (18 in most countries) is not big enough nowadays for this particular kind of decisions but it’s a completely different story.