Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland stated Thursday that the planned restrictions for transgender youth in the Alberta province are “extremely dangerous” and place children “at risk.” Holland’s statement came one day after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to implement new policies regarding transgender minors’ access to medical treatment, pronoun use in school and participation in sports.
The planned legislation would restrict access to gender-affirming health care for individuals under the age of 17 and prohibit hormone treatment and gender-affirming surgery for individuals under 15. Under the guidelines, students aged 15 and under will also need parental consent to change their pronouns or name in school. Students ages 16 and 17 will be allowed to make such changes without parental consent, but their parents will be notified. Trans women will also be prohibited from joining women’s sports teams.
Alberta is not the first province to enact policies limiting pronoun use in schools. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have enacted legislation requiring parental consent before schools can acknowledge students’ preferred names and pronouns. The planned guidelines regarding medical treatment, however, would be the most restrictive policies for transgender youth in Canada.
Holland stated in a press conference that he was “deeply disturbed” by the announcement, emphasizing that access to gender affirming healthcare is a sensitive issue. Holland said, “We know that one of the number one reasons why kids take their life is problems around sexual identity, and that the ability to be who you are is so vitally important.”
The guidelines are currently planned to be implemented this fall. According to Smith, the goal of the policies is to ensure that trans youth cannot make permanent health decisions until they are adults. “We want to make sure that those adult decisions are made as adults,” Smith said. “Issues involving kids’ reproductive health are not a political stunt.”
Many opponents have expressed disagreement, however, finding the policies to be political maneuvers. “I thought we were in a place in this country where we were moving past this,” Holland stated. “I think it’s extremely dangerous to engage in this kind of thing, which I think is playing politics when you’re talking about children’s lives.” Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani expressed a similar sentiment, stating, “I think actually targeting that small minority for some political purpose in Alberta, as it seems that the premier is doing, is not becoming of her office, and is in fact actually targeting and perhaps even demonizing those children.”
According to World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the required age in Canada for genital reconstructive surgery is 18 and 16 for mastectomies. The procedures Smith is looking to restrict are rarely available to minors and are only accessible after thorough medical and psychological consultation.
Opponents of the decision are currently discussing ways to prevent the policies from coming to fruition. Holland, who is visiting Alberta soon, said his priority is to talk through the issues. “I want to see if we can find a solution through talking to really understand what this is going to mean and the devastation that it is going to bring so we can find an off-ramp,” he said.
Lorian Hardcastle, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in health law and policy, stated that while the Canada Health Act largely allows provinces to determine which health services they provide their constituents, the policies could be challenged under human rights legislation or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. Virani, however, believes it is too soon to directly challenge the planned policies. “They’ve announced what they’re thinking about doing, they’ve not tabled anything, there’s no legislation. There’s nothing to be taken to court; I’m not going to speculate.”
