CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defended her use of the notwithstanding clause to protect three pro-family laws while drawing support from Canadians.
In a November 19 Facebook post, Smith highlighted her government’s decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure that three bills passed this year to protect children, parental rights, and women’s sports remain law after legal attacks from extremist activists.
“Laws protecting kids, families, and fair play will stand,” she declared. “This includes protecting young people from irreversible hormonal or surgical medical decisions they are not ready to make at a young age, strengthening the roles of parents in education, and ensuring gender fairness in sport.”
“Our government has acted decisively, by introducing legislation to use the notwithstanding clause, to ensure we stand up and continue protecting some of our most vulnerable Albertans — our children,” Smith continued.
Smith’s post racked up over 11,000 positive reactions compared with less than 1,000 angry reactions. Similarly, more than 3,800 Canadians commented under her post, the majority of whom voiced support for Alberta’s defense of the family.
“Thank you premier for having a backbone and implementing these policies which the majority of common sense, hardworking, and often silent Albertans overwhelmingly support,” one user wrote.
“Thank you Premier Smith for your fearless and dedicated leadership and for protecting Alberta’s youth from harmful and toxic ideology,” another commented. “Grateful and appreciative that you’re in our corner.”
“THANK you for protecting children,” another Canadian celebrated. “They are far too young to make decisions that have life long consequences. This is why we don’t let them drive and participate in high risk activities, or marriage.”
As of November 18, Alberta invoked the notwithstanding clause to defend three new pro-family laws. The first mandates that parents are informed of any changes to their child’s name or gender in school.
The second, enacted at the beginning of September, ensures that women and girls are protected from competing against gender-confused men and boys in sports.
The third, and arguably most important, blocks irreversible “gender transitioning” surgeries and drugs like puberty blockers and hormones for minors.
The legislation was introduced after overwhelming evidence showed that persons who undergo so-called “gender transitioning” procedures are more likely to commit suicide than those who are not given such irreversible surgeries.
Meanwhile, a study on the side effects of “sex change” surgeries discovered that 81 percent of those who have undergone them in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movements in the weeks and months that followed, among many other negative side effects.
However, shortly after the legislation was introduced, an Alberta court justice granted a temporary injunction after outcry from LGBT activists.
The notwithstanding clause, embedded in section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allows provinces to temporarily override sections of the Charter and protect new laws from being scrapped by the courts.
Alberta’s move is similar to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe invoking his government’s notwithstanding clause to protect pro-family legislation from the courts in 2023.
