For months, Premier Danielle Smith downplayed and outright denied any intention of invoking the notwithstanding clause to protect its transphobic legislation from being struck down. This past June, following an order by the Court of King’s Bench issuing an injunction to block Bill 26, Premier Smith said “We want to battle this out, and the way you do that is you go to the higher levels of court. If we were to impose the notwithstanding clause, everything would stop. We actually think that we’ve got a very solid case.”
Now, behind closed doors, internal government documents confirm their plan to strip away the fundamental rights of Albertans, particularly youth, through extraordinary legal powers.
This is nothing short of shameful. By weaponizing the
notwithstanding clause, the Alberta government is taking extreme measures to push through harmful legislation (amendments to Bills 26, 27 and 29) that will undermine constitutional protections in health care, education, and sport. These laws go after trans and gender diverse children and youth – and Bill 29, extends harm by policing the bodies of every girl and woman in Alberta, violating their privacy and dignity.
Let’s be clear: the notwithstanding clause was never meant to be a tool for governments to silence and control. Its planned use by the Government of Alberta reveals a government willing to sacrifice the safety and human rights of youth to advance a dangerous political agenda.
Egale Canada and Skipping Stone call on Albertans – and all Canadians – to see this for what it is: an abuse of power by the government. No government
should be trusted to govern fairly when it resorts to rights-stripping tactics.
This action will go down in history as a disgraceful betrayal of the people they are sworn to serve. |
