A crowd of demonstrators gathered in Ottawa on Monday to protest a visit by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Smith was in Ottawa to open a new Alberta office in the nation’s capital, but her recently announced policies aimed at trans youth drew backlash from protesters and some federal government ministers.
Last week, Smith announced plans that include banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for children 15 and under, unless their treatment has already begun, requiring parental consent for the use of preferred names and pronouns in school, and banning top surgery for children 17 and under. Albertans under 18 are already ineligible for bottom surgery.
Protesters circled the corner of Wellington and O’Connor streets in downtown Ottawa Monday afternoon, waving blue, pink and white transgender flags and holding signs and banners that said things like “refuse to be your child’s first bully” and “trans is beautiful.”
They were met by a small group of counter protesters with “leave the kids alone” signs. Ottawa police officers were on hand to keep the two groups separate.
“We’re seeing a premier recklessly interfering the rights and freedoms of trans kids and their families and now she’s come to Ottawa to spread her hate and we’re going to stand up and speak up against it,” said Wisdom2Action executive director Fae Johnstone, one of the rally’s organizers.
While such policies are not legislated in Ontario, some at the rally expressed fear they could be.
“I do have a daughter that is affected by this and if this were to happen here in Ontario, it would completely uproot our lives. We would have to move,” said parent Holly Brown. “I’m very afraid of what it would do to her and, as a parent, I can’t help but think of all the youth and all the families.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford quickly answered a question Monday about whether his government would be following in Alberta’s footsteps by simply saying, “No, we have a law here and we’re leaving everything alone,” before moving on.
Speaking on CTV’s Power Play on Monday, Smith told host Vassy Kapelos that her new policies are based on “concern of what will happen” and not on current evidence of a problem.
“I don’t want any child to feel regret for their decision or feel that they made it prematurely. That’s why we want to make sure that we take the extra time so that those kids are making the decisions and they can live with the consequences,” Smith said.
Some doctors in Alberta have also been critical of Smith’s policies, saying they are based on ideology and not medical expertise.
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Leah Larocque and CTV’s Power Play senior producer Stephanie Ha
