Here we go. The UCP has once again used the notwithstanding clause to bypass the rule of law and legislate away Charter rights of Albertans. This time not rights to assembly and collective bargaining, but the most basic fundamental human rights to health, safety, and security FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION!
Danielle Smith called the existence of trans kids the most urgent threat to the safety of other children. This is absolutely unheard of. And yet her caucus dares to deny being the villains of the poem, "First they came for". She knows these laws puts trans kids at-risk and endangers them, that's why she's using the notwithstanding clause to shield her legislation from the judicial process.
Statistically you are probably not trans, but these fundamental human rights belong to all of us. They will come for yours next.
We have seen how Albertans are mobilizing over the charter rights of teachers being taken away, primarily because they targeted the worker rights which affect so many of us. This time they are targeting the smallest marginalized group in Alberta, but taking away the most essential fundamental rights they have.
It doesn't matter how big the group is or how basic and essential the rights are, neither is beyond the scope of the UCP to attack.
The only urgency here is for Albertans to mobilize like never before to recall all UCP caucus members. This autocracy is the most existential threat our province has ever faced. I have never seen Albertans mobilize like they have, but the threat here requires much more than we have even seen.
#abpoli #cdnpoli #fascism #education #humanrights #transrights #gayrights #transrightsarehumanrights #union #strike #Solidarity
Organized labour stands in support of trans people against Bill 9’s politics of division
November 17, 2025
“We will not rest until unconstitutional attacks on workers and trans people are brought to a halt”—McGowan
EDMONTON: Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, made the following statement in response to reports that the UCP government is planning to introduce Bill 9 and invoke the notwithstanding clause again, this time in an attack on the rights of trans people in the province:
“We at the AFL are deeply alarmed by reports that the provincial government is planning to invoke the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively on three bills, Bill 26, Bill 27 and Bill 29, that represent a direct attack on the rights of transgender people, especially vulnerable youth.
An Alberta judge has already put a hold on a provincial law that bans doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. Other legal challenges are working their way through the courts. The government’s use of this clause would short-circuit those processes and strip away the fundamental protections guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Every Canadian should be concerned when the notwithstanding clause is used to erode people’s rights. That is not what this clause was intended to do. The only reason to use it in this way is because the government knows it is wrong and will lose in court.
Edmonton·Breaking
Alberta to invoke notwithstanding clause to shield 3 transgender bills from court challenges
Premier says move is urgently needed to protect the safety of children
Janet French · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 2:59 PM MST | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago
Image: Two people stand at a podium with flags visible in the background.
Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery and Premier Danielle Smith speak at a news conference Monday announcing the government's plans for Bill 9. (Emilio Avalos/Radio-Canada)
The Alberta government has tabled legislation that seeks to invoke the notwithstanding clause to shield a suite of bills from legal challenges that affects transgender youth and adults.
Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference on Monday that three ongoing legal challenges to gender policies in health care and education could take years to resolve and create too much uncertainty.
“This government does not turn to the notwithstanding clause unless the stakes warrant it, and in this case, the stakes could not be higher,” Smith said Monday. “This is one of the most consequential actions our government will take during our time in office.”
Alberta uses Notwithstanding Clause
to perpetuate unprecedented attack on Trans Rights
Today, the Government of Alberta has introduced Bill 9 which uses the notwithstanding clause to restrict the rights of Two-Spirit, trans & gender diverse people in the province.
This legislation is brought days ahead of Trans Day of Remembrance - a day meant to honour the lives lost to anti-trans violence. Doing so is not only cruel but a direct form of institutional violence against trans communities.
This law reaches into nearly every part of a young person's life and restricts their access to health care, ability to learn, and right to participate in their communities. This is not theoretically or ideological - Behind every policy are real young people and families who's rights, sense of belonging and very safety are being eroded by our very government.
This is an unprecedented action in Canada. This is the first time a government has used the notwithstanding clause to prohibit essential gender affirming health care to young people. This past June, the Court of King's Bench of Alberta ruled that the denial of this health care would cause irreparable harm to gender diverse young people and issued an injunction blocking the ban from coming into effect while the constitutional challenge brought by Egale Canada, Skipping Stone, and five individual gender diverse youth, proceeded.