The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - February 07, 2024


What Albertans really think of Smith's gender policies


Episode Stats

Length

10 minutes

Words per Minute

169.30693

Word Count

1,710

Sentence Count

89

Misogynist Sentences

11

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 It's huge for women to have our rights, and we're losing our rights by allowing
00:00:04.560 transgenders to compete in women's sports, especially even young women.
00:00:09.300 I remember as a kindergarten teacher got into trouble because I tacked up drawings
00:00:14.680 of genitals. I thought, yes, that was in the 70s, and people were shocked.
00:00:30.000 Hey, everyone, it's Rachel Emanuel with True North. I'm here at a mall in Calgary, and I'm going to
00:00:36.400 gather some people's thoughts on what they think about the new transgender policies that Daniel
00:00:41.880 Smith announced last week. Let's go. So did you hear about Daniel Smith's new transgender policies?
00:00:46.960 I did.
00:00:47.680 And what did you think of them?
00:00:49.200 I think it's a good idea. I think parents need to have responsibility for their children and
00:00:55.040 their children's decisions. I don't think children that are that young don't have the
00:01:01.600 life experience to make those kind of decisions that are going to affect their future lives.
00:01:05.420 It's certainly a fine line to walk. It's going to disappoint a lot of people, but I think there's
00:01:13.080 too much power been given to people other than parents in raising their children.
00:01:17.000 I think we do need to protect our children. Yeah, it's very important. I don't think these
00:01:23.240 decisions are meant for children, and that we are here to protect them until they're at the
00:01:29.220 right age to make those decisions.
00:01:31.240 I'm a little torn about that, but in general, it's not up to the government to decide.
00:01:37.040 So do you think parents should be allowed to give their kids sex reassignment surgeries
00:01:40.460 if the parents and the children agree?
00:01:43.240 Yeah, I think so. It depends. There's lots to go into it, but if there's enough people involved
00:01:50.280 and it's understood, it's kind of hard to say.
00:01:54.020 They know what they're talking about and what's appropriate. I've taught kindergarten to grade 12
00:01:58.720 and post-secondary. And, you know, in kindergarten, I remember as a kindergarten teacher, I got into
00:02:04.840 trouble because I tacked up drawings of genitopes. I thought, yes, that was in the 70s, and people were shocked.
00:02:13.920 I work in health care, and so I, first of all, don't think it's right that politicians are trying to
00:02:19.800 step their toes on anything to do with health and the rights of people, especially minors.
00:02:25.540 I wholeheartedly believe that people's, you know, health care teams, and maybe not necessarily their
00:02:31.700 parents, but these kids that trust their health care team, are in, like, the proper hands.
00:02:37.160 And so I really feel disgustingly upset about the fact that she, Danielle Smith, feels that she
00:02:46.060 can meddle in kids' lives. When it comes to issues of health care, you know, you said leaving these
00:02:50.280 decisions up to the experts. Ultimately, health care is funded by the taxpayers, so our government
00:02:54.180 is going to have a certain amount of oversight on what is spent on. For example, if you want to go see
00:02:58.760 the chiropractor, you're going to pay for that out of pocket. If you go see your family doctor,
00:03:01.520 that's covered by the province. So the government is going to have some oversight. So why do you think
00:03:05.260 it's inappropriate that she would be saying, you know, I'm the leader of this province,
00:03:08.920 and we're going to have oversight. Health care is a responsibility to be administered by the
00:03:12.120 province, and this is a law that we're making because we're not comfortable with minors having
00:03:15.980 sex reassignment surgeries. You know, I think this is a very fair question to be asking, but I would
00:03:21.100 then pose the same question about abortion for mature minors, is that, I mean, already in the
00:03:27.660 province of Alberta and in Canada, sex reassignment surgery is very few and far between. I do know that
00:03:33.900 people go out of country for that quite often, and so I think it would be very harming to say that
00:03:39.480 we're going to make this decision for you because we are in charge of health care decisions. I feel
00:03:44.380 very strongly that the more appropriate response would be to say, this is our understanding of it
00:03:50.620 holistically, whereas I just feel like this has been a shotgun decision made because of opinion,
00:03:56.340 and this is how we're willing to support you. I don't think it's appropriate for a group of
00:04:01.500 politicians to be saying, we're making this decision for you because we don't feel like
00:04:04.320 it's right and that you're able to make this decision. One of the other things that was
00:04:07.620 announced is that the premier is going to be giving taxpayer money to fund sex reassignment
00:04:12.460 surgeries for adults and actually bring some doctors in that could perform those surgeries
00:04:16.340 for adults. Do you agree with that decision? I haven't thought much on that. Totally different
00:04:23.280 story when we're talking about adults, for sure. Do you think taxpayers should pay for
00:04:27.500 these surgeries? Yes. Yeah, I mean, it's part of health care, in my opinion. So why shouldn't
00:04:33.060 the government have a say in it if the government is deciding whether or not they're going to pay
00:04:36.100 for it? Because it's not, health care is health care. It's not got anything to do with the government.
00:04:43.560 One other thing that she announced was that they're going to be working with sports
00:04:46.800 organizations to make sure that there's spaces for women's only sporting, so biological men or
00:04:52.180 transgender women won't be able to perform in sports with women, and then they're going to try to
00:04:56.040 increase co-ed options as well. Do you think that this is a right move to protect, you know,
00:05:00.240 female-only sporting, or do you think that this goes too far? I think it's important. It's huge for
00:05:05.320 women to have our rights, and we're losing our rights by allowing transgenders to compete in
00:05:11.100 women's sports, especially even young women. So I think it's important that we have just a league
00:05:16.260 of their own. They can still perform, but given that, just give the opportunity for biological women.
00:05:22.820 I'm not saying women are weak or something, but they should have the leverage of competing with
00:05:30.320 other women. When it comes to sports and things that really define the character of a person,
00:05:37.520 I think that should be limited to whatever the perimeter that belongs to.
00:05:42.640 She's taken on the role of a sports expert now. Again, those decisions are being made by people in
00:05:49.420 the sports community, and they haven't since the need to do that. So why does she?
00:05:57.400 Well, what about some women athletes who have come forward and said, you know,
00:05:59.960 this is really unfair that I'm being forced to compete against biological men who have
00:06:03.900 an advantage against me?
00:06:05.900 Well, I believe that a trans woman has undergone a lot of different hormonal treatments,
00:06:14.740 so they're not totally a man anymore. That's the whole point. They still may have a little more
00:06:22.460 muscle mass or whatever, but I think it seems okay to me. But again, I bow to the people in the sports
00:06:32.820 field who have worked with different medical staff to work out what's proper and who's allowed in.
00:06:38.560 Depends what kind of sport. With only swimming, it's fine. But with the game sport, football or,
00:06:48.900 you know, game sport, I don't think it's right.
00:06:52.360 So biological men can compete against women in sports like swimming, but not in sports like football,
00:06:56.800 where women might be physically harmed, is what you're saying?
00:07:01.380 It's difficult.
00:07:02.540 If I punch you, or you punch me, you know, the girl punch with less power. If the man punch,
00:07:10.960 they may die. That's the main reason for protection, you know.
00:07:16.620 Currently in Alberta, four out of five of women's weightlifting records and awards are held by
00:07:24.700 biological men or transgender women. Do you think that's fair?
00:07:29.620 That's what I said, like, you know, that demotives the character and the perspective of a woman in general.
00:07:37.040 So that's something that we should not know. That's where the fine line comes into play. And we should define the line between the character and the sport.
00:07:52.320 That's very interesting. That would be the muscle mass, I suppose.
00:07:56.380 Maybe they should think about having another category? I don't know. It's something to think about there, I guess.
00:08:07.160 There's some room to think about categories.
00:08:10.880 Yeah, I mean, that's basically what the Premier announced, that they were going to be looking at making more co-ed sporting events
00:08:16.580 so that biological men or trans women could compete against, you know, other women that feel comfortable competing against them,
00:08:22.800 but that there would also be some exclusively sports spaces and tournaments for biological women.
00:08:29.900 And the Premier is going to be working with sporting organizations on this,
00:08:33.180 so I think it's safe to say she has consulted with sporting experts on this matter.
00:08:37.260 Well, I'd be surprised. She didn't seem to have consulted with too many people, and that's not what I've heard.
00:08:44.260 It's hard for me to have an opinion there.
00:08:47.300 All right, everyone. I hope that you enjoyed that.
00:08:49.200 I think I asked about 100 people to stop, and as soon as they heard the word transgender,
00:08:53.520 they really weren't interested in giving their opinions.
00:08:55.660 It's obviously still such a controversial issue today,
00:08:58.360 and I think we can all honestly give homage to the Premier for opening it up
00:09:02.080 and diving into what is a really difficult subject matter to discuss and to create policy on.
00:09:07.120 I had some really good interviews today.
00:09:08.800 I know that you guys won't agree with everything everyone said,
00:09:11.560 but I ask you to just be polite in your comments
00:09:13.580 because I appreciate that these people were willing to stop and engage
00:09:16.420 because so few people weren't, and I did continue to talk to some of the people afterwards,
00:09:20.380 especially that lady in the green jacket,
00:09:22.280 and I feel like there can be common ground that could be found
00:09:25.640 if we were all a little more willing to have these difficult discussions.
00:09:28.340 So thank you guys for tuning in.
00:09:29.900 That's all I have time for today,
00:09:31.000 and don't forget that our regular episode will be out on Saturday as always.
00:09:34.920 Have a great week, and God bless.
00:09:36.020 Have a great week, and God bless.