CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta is preparing to invoke the notwithstanding clause to enact pro-family laws that are under attack by LGBT activists.
According to an internal memo leaked to the Canadian Press, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office plans to use the notwithstanding clause to override opposition to three laws that protect children from the LGBT agenda.
“As you are aware, the premier’s office has directed that legislation be developed for the fall legislative session to amend the following pieces of legislation to permit each to operate notwithstanding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Bill of Rights,” the September 10 memo from Deputy Minister of Justice Malcolm Lavoie reads.
“This legislative initiative is highly sensitive and should be approached with the utmost confidentiality,” it continued.
According to the memo, the proposal will be presented to the cabinet on October 21.
The clause would be used to protect three pro-family laws that Alberta has enacted in the past months. 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 sporting competitions.
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. Alberta has since promised to continue the fight to enact the legislation.
If Smith uses the notwithstanding clause, her government can override the courts and enforce the pro-family laws regardless of previous court rulings.
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 would be similar to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe invoking his government’s notwithstanding clause to protect pro-family legislation from the courts in 2023.
