Alberta is set to again invoke the notwithstanding clause, this time to shield a raft of limits on transgender youth — including a ban on surgery under 18 and Canada’s only ban of puberty blockers hormone therapy for those under 16 — from ongoing legal challenges.

“These measures reflect the views of an overwhelming majority of Albertans,” Premier Danielle Smith said, referring to the changes to both transgender health care and sport made last fall as among the “most consequential” moves her government has taken.

“It is our responsibility to make sure that they are not overturned,” she added.

The second use of the notwithstanding clause in a month will again pit Smith’s socially conservative base against those in the prairie province who argue that her government has wielded the claus

See Full Page