Prince Albert, Canada, Feb 7, 2024 / 12:00 pm
Alberta’s proposed parental rights policy is another step in parents regaining control of their children’s education — in particular concerning a perceived overreach with gender ideology — from school bureaucrats, its supporters say.
The new policy, introduced by Premier Danielle Smith in a video posted to X on Jan. 31, will forbid gender reassignment surgery for minors under 18 years old and prohibit puberty blockers and hormone therapies for youth aged 15 and younger. Following the same path as neighboring Saskatchewan, the new rules also make parental notification and consent compulsory from a school seeking to comply with requests by a child under 16 to change his or her name or pronoun; schools will have to notify parents of 16- and 17-year-olds seeking to make such change.
Elementary and secondary schools will also be mandated to provide notification and an opt-in requirement for each occasion a teacher plans to instruct about gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality in the classroom.
Jeff Gunnarson, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, called Smith’s announcement “groundbreaking.”