Parent of transgender youth reacts to Alberta government’s use of notwithstanding clause

In a historic move, Alberta has invoked the notwithstanding clause for the second time in less than a month — this time on legislation impacting transgender youth that the courts had previously blocked.

On Tuesday, the United Conservative Party (UCP) government introduced Bill 9, which uses the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to prevent legal challenges to three controversial laws affecting transgender and gender-diverse youth and adults.

For parents like Shawna Risdon, the move feels like government overreach. Risdon, a mother of six, says her family’s experience shows why decisions about transgender care should remain between parents, doctors, and their children.

“You’re 15, 16, nobody knows who they are at that age, you’re just figuring life out… don’t make any permanent decisions,” she said.

But when asked whether the government’s restrictions might be justified, her answer was a firm “no.”

“It’s not their place to say which child needs the intervention and which child doesn’t. That’s between the parent, the doctor and the kid,” she says.

Premier Danielle Smith has defended her government’s decision, saying it was necessary to protect children’s health and well-being, which she argued could be jeopardized if court challenges delayed implementation.

“We’ve got to protect children, we’ve got to make sure they make it safely into adulthood, fully understanding the consequences of their decisions,” said Smith during a heated back-and-forth with the opposition NDP in the Alberta legislature on Wednesday.

The notwithstanding clause is being applied to three bills, including:

Bill 26, which prohibits gender reassignment surgery for youth and bans puberty blockers and hormone therapy for anyone under 16.

Bill 27, which requires schools to obtain parental consent before referring to students under 16 by different names or pronouns, and introduces an opt-in system for sexual education.

Bill 29, which bans transgender girls from participating in amateur female sports.

Risdon’s daughter, now 26, struggled as a teenager with gender dysphoria — the distress caused by a mismatch between one’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth. Out of respect for her daughter’s privacy, Risdon declined to identify her publicly, but she says the stakes were life or death.

“They are very complex people; they are hugely at risk,” she explained. “The stakes are incalculable… having a child suffering with gender dysphoria so extremely that they don’t want to live anymore… You would do anything, anything to help them.”

Risdon believes that without access to treatment during her daughter’s adolescence, her child’s life could have been in jeopardy. She says if the government had restricted care at the time, she would have been forced to leave Alberta to ensure her daughter received the support she needed.

“If the government wants to protect kids, mandate childhood vaccinations,” she added. “In the end, parents just want to raise their own kids without government interference.”