Learn English with Alberta s premier, Alana Smith, as she lays out her government's policy direction on the issues of preserving the choices children have regarding their gender identity until they are mature enough to make them, policies to better involve parents in their children's education on sensitive issues, and policies addressing the issue of women and transgender athletes in competitive sports.
00:28:37.580The Liberals, the NDP and mainstream media haven't waited a second to attack Alberta for banning this organ removal of children or for protecting young girls in sports.
00:28:48.140And I'm just wondering if you're worried that this is sort of reaching sort of a fever pitch.
00:28:52.060I know you wanted to depoliticize the issue, but the left is keen on politicizing it.
00:28:57.320Are you worried about vindictive retribution in the form of reduced health transfers from Trudeau?
00:29:03.720Well, first of all, we're not stopping any covered service.
00:29:08.440We do about 100 transgender approvals for surgery every year,
00:29:15.780and about a quarter of them are aged 18 to 25, just for context,
00:29:20.440so that, you know, in 2020, 2021, there were 104 individuals approved for surgery,
00:29:26.88025 of them, 18 to 25. In 21, 22, it was 119 approved for surgery, 27 in the 18 to 25 category.
00:29:36.740And I only have partial data for 22, 23. It was 19 as of this point in the year that I was looking
00:29:42.860at, three of which were 18 to 25. So that's not going to change. In fact, we're going to provide
00:29:48.240more support because rather than sending those individuals to Quebec to get the surgery,
00:29:53.320we are going to attract a doctor here, so the surgeries can be performed here, as well as the
00:29:58.200aftercare, which is very important in the case of some of the, especially the bottom surgery.
00:30:05.940So there's nothing that's changed there. When it comes to hormone therapies, those are covered by
00:30:11.980a parent's drug plan. And so again, those are not therapies that are currently covered by
00:30:20.040government they're they're covered by my parents drug plans and i would just say that just in the
00:30:26.760case of the federal government last year the federal government passed a new agreement with
00:30:33.080federal employees for health benefits and this agreement recognizes that benefits should only
00:30:38.920apply for gender-affirming procedures for adults 18 years of age or older so i'm not quite sure
00:30:46.360why the minister of health would take such a strong position when their own employee insurance
00:30:51.000plan only supports adults receiving these treatments so we are being i think very
00:30:57.480responsible in the approach that we're taking we are going to continue providing the same services
00:31:03.000that we've always had we're going to make sure that they're even better so that those who are
00:31:07.800transitioning get the appropriate aftercare and counseling support that they need and so you know
00:31:14.360I welcome the discussion, but there is nothing that we are doing that would violate the Canada Health Act.
00:31:22.300Just to follow up, the parents' advocacy groups in Canada and frankly internationally have been applauding this policy.
00:31:29.220One said that this is a common sense measure that is 100% necessary when it comes to keeping parents informed about the safety of their children.
00:31:35.780There's been a lot of support for this, there's been a lot of opposition from the opposition.
00:31:40.260but I'm curious like where you stand on invoking the notwithstanding clause if it comes to that
00:31:46.420will you do that I hope it doesn't come to that I mean um we're we're putting this forward with
00:31:52.200the best interest the best interest of the child in mind and we believe that the child's best
00:31:57.900interests are served by having a supportive family walking every step of the way with them
00:32:03.100we believe the child's best interest is served by making sure that when they're making decisions
00:32:08.380that it doesn't have, it's not irreversible until they're of an age where they're prepared to live with the consequences of that.
00:32:16.260So I think because of those aspects, I would hope that this is supported.
00:32:23.300That's the spirit with which we've gone into it, is to making sure that we're protecting children's rights and children's choices.
00:32:30.020Thank you. Operator, can you put through the next caller, please?
00:32:34.080Thank you. Yes. Lisa Johnson, Edmonton Journal.
00:32:38.380Hi, thanks for taking my question. I'm wondering, my understanding is that your legal first name is Marlena. Why did you choose, I'm wondering why did you choose to go by a different name and why you would take steps to restrict the same freedom for others to do the same?
00:33:00.460Well, my mother's going to get a great kick out of that question because I've been, ever since 9-11,
00:33:07.140I've been telling her how difficult it is that she decided to have me go by my middle name and not my first name.
00:33:13.400It was my parents' choice to call me Danielle, and it was my parents' choice to put on my birth certificate
00:33:19.380that Marlena, Danielle Smith, they just like the ring of it better.
00:33:22.440That's actually what it comes down to.
00:33:23.900They didn't do the same thing for my older brother.
00:33:25.920He goes by his first name, not his middle name.
00:33:27.540my middle sister she goes by her first name not her middle name um my two um other brothers also
00:33:33.620go by their first name not their middle name they just decided to make a difference with me
00:33:40.260marlena smith that's what it comes down to0.99
00:33:46.180did you have a follow-up lisa yeah thanks for that um critics of this cluster of politics
00:33:53.220policies have asked how you feel about the fact that you have restricted the rights of vulnerable
00:34:02.020young people in alberta to gain favor with the far right wing of voters in your party which are
00:34:10.980a pretty small representative population of the province where if you can respond to that i i
00:34:17.700would say that we're supporting kids in in their right to make decisions about their own journey
00:34:24.180at a time when they're mature enough to make those decisions so age 16 is when they can begin
00:34:29.700with the hormone therapies and age 18 is when they'll be able to to commence top and bottom
00:34:36.500surgery we just think that that's a responsible way of approaching this this issue so that the
00:34:41.380kids are not precluded from all of the future choices that come to them uh when they when they
00:34:46.900decide to make the decision that is that is going to have potentially serious ramifications on their
00:34:51.940reproductive rights and so we think that this is preserving of choice thank you operator could you
00:34:58.500put through the next caller please thank you janet french cbc hi there um when it comes to
00:35:09.460parental notification requirements and trans health decisions i wonder if you can provide
00:35:14.260a list for us of which peer-reviewed research you used to rely upon to inform these decisions?
00:35:21.520Medical experts are telling us today that they weren't consulted about this.
00:35:27.000And if instead this was based on people's feelings and feedback and not evidence,
00:35:31.020why do people's feelings take precedence over evidence?
00:35:35.000Well, there's lots of published material.
00:35:37.860As I mentioned, UK, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden.
00:35:41.820And we've also seen a break in the community last year when one organization talked about reducing the thresholds.
00:35:53.680And they ended up losing a board member and other supporters over that.
00:35:56.900There's a different organization that has the endocrine doctors that have different parameters that are actually a little bit closer to what we've proposed here.
00:36:07.020And there are other medical associations that actually don't prescribe ages.
00:36:11.240So this is why I would say that there isn't one single narrative and there isn't one single answer and there isn't one single authority that we have to, that we can rely on on this.
00:36:24.540So a lot of it is going to be looking at the impact on kids.
00:36:28.580And I think most people would acknowledge that if somebody is making an irreversible decision that could end their ability to have children, that that's a decision they should make as an adult.
00:36:39.900That's certainly the feedback that I've gotten, and it seems to me the most reasonable approach.
00:36:46.160I should say, I mean, that has been the practice in Alberta, is that you cannot have bottom surgery until you're aged 18 or over.
00:36:58.120And so as I've been watching around the world, this conversation taking place, we're affirming that that practice is going to continue here,
00:37:05.640that we don't want kids making irreversible decisions before the before they're adult enough
00:37:11.480to be able to understand the ramifications and consequences of it so um yes we're watching the
00:37:17.800shifting and evolving debate in the medical community with interest but we think it's
00:37:22.120important that we set some guidelines so that those who are going through this journey know
00:37:27.080the decision points where they can commence hormone treatment and where they can commence surgery
00:38:53.000I'm sure you're aware of the criticism
00:38:54.880that is coming around with this announcement.
00:38:57.180It's not just the federal health minister,
00:38:59.420but also the Justice Minister, the Transgender Society and the people and the Alberta NDP who
00:39:04.960are calling this a political stunt. What is your response to that? Absolutely not. I mean,
00:39:10.880issues involving kids' reproductive health are not a political stunt. That is essential for us
00:39:17.780to show leadership in preserving kids' choices so that they, if they choose to at some future point,
00:39:23.140decide that they want to have kids, that they haven't prematurely made a decision they can't
00:39:26.740with so that's very serious and that's the reason why we felt it was important that we put these
00:39:32.580these guidelines in place there are i would encourage you to consult widely in the gay and
00:39:40.580transgender community because once again just like among doctors there isn't a single voice
00:39:46.260there's a number of different individuals who are from the community who also want to make sure the
00:39:52.900the kids' choices are not cut off prematurely and that there is appropriate care, mental as well as
00:39:58.800physical aftercare. We have a number of people that we can give you who are prepared to add
00:40:06.620some commentary to your story if you're interested. I think Sam has a list of individuals who'd be
00:40:11.860happy to give you some of their perspective as well. You touched upon the implementation briefly.
00:40:17.760could you explain a little more uh how long are we seeing for the implementation a few months
00:40:22.960a year or longer i'm i'm thinking that we'll probably have what whatever policies need to
00:40:29.200be changed in legislation that would be scheduled for the fall um and so we would probably proceed
00:40:34.320with a package if it's a regulation legislation and policy changes we're looking at doing
00:40:39.760implementation in the fall thank you last but not least no definitely at least uh rick bell post
00:40:49.280media um the federal liberals following on the last question are deeply troubled by what's happening
00:40:56.640it's not the first time the federal levels have been deeply troubled by your government
00:41:00.480um and they want to come and talk to your health minister about this and they have grave concerns
00:41:06.880uh what is your thought about uh being uh lectured on this policy by uh your good friends in ottawa
00:41:14.020well they want to demonstrate leadership then why did they prohibit their employees
00:41:18.880from getting gender uh support for their choices until they're 18 plus so i would just ask them
00:41:25.180not to be hypocrites on this and uh to not politicize it which they're clearly doing
00:41:30.500We know that we are going to be supporting kids who go through this journey with the mental health support that they need, with the family support they need, when they get into age 16 and 17 with the hormone therapies that they choose to have, and when they turn 18 and ask for top and bottom surgery.
00:41:51.640we have a process for approving that and we're going to make sure that there are sufficient
00:41:55.880doctors who can provide that ongoing care as well as the surgery being done here and after care so
00:42:02.280i would say that maybe they could work with other provinces to to go as far as as we are
00:42:07.640in providing the full scope of care for uh for all individuals who are going down this life journey i
00:42:13.880i think that um it's been a bit of a gap in our health system that we've been sending people to
00:42:19.400to quebec and then not following up with the care that they need i think it's a bit of a gap
00:42:23.640that we have transgender individuals who don't have uh the the lifelong primary care that they
00:42:28.440need to support their very unique health needs so that's as much a part and parcel of this proposal
00:42:34.280as as any of the other aspects and i think that that's an appropriate area for the health minister
00:42:39.000looking to see if there's other ways that he can get other provinces to help bridge that gap
00:42:42.600um within a few minutes of your video there were a lot of people on social media who were
00:42:50.440very critical and you've heard some of the criticisms that you're captive of extremists
00:42:55.480in your party that you're deliberately hurting children that your policies are dangerous
00:43:00.280and to quote uh the calgary mayor gondek as it's an infringement of human rights
00:43:05.480and and many other things what what what do you say to those people who are you know quite in
00:43:11.320in many cases quite emotionally invested here and making those claims you know danielle smith not
00:43:17.800fit to lead etc etc and also are you confident you have most albertans on side on this issue
00:43:26.280so it's kind of a two-part so you know the one is what you say to those people the critics
00:43:30.840who've come out publicly and slammed you in every way and are you confident you're speaking for the
00:43:36.680the majority because they say they're speaking for the majority. I am confident that Albertans
00:43:41.600do not want children to make irreversible decisions that impact their reproductive health.
00:43:47.040I am confident that they do not think that those are child decisions to make, that those are adult
00:43:51.680decisions to make. I am also confident that parents love their kids and they want to know
00:43:56.660what's going on with their kids. It doesn't matter what perspective they come from. They want to make
00:44:00.440sure that they're walking the journey with their child every step of the way. And anyone who's
00:44:05.880trying to put roadblocks in that child parent relationship, they've got, I don't think they0.58
00:44:11.300have public support. I mean, that said, we do know that there are going to be difficult
00:44:15.540conversations to be had. That's why we are going to be supporting a pilot project to ensure that
00:44:19.940families are able to have counseling right alongside with the kids. And if there is ever
00:44:24.780an instance where a child feels rejected or at risk of harm, we have a child protection service,
00:44:30.360and we're going to make sure that those kids also have a safe environment to be in. So I would say
00:44:35.820that this is the right balance this is what i believe albertans expect of us to do to make
00:44:40.700sure that we're protecting kids choices thank you and that's all the time we have for questions
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