Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in Ottawa today where she is set to open a new provincial office. Smith answers questions at a news conference in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol
OTTAWA – Liberal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault says he wants a meeting with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to discuss her recent policy announcement on transgender youth.
Smith is in Ottawa today after announcing last week that her United Conservative Party government would ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for children 15 and younger who have not already begun those treatments.
That proposal, along with her government’s plan to require that parents be notified if kids under 15 want to go by a different name or pronoun at school, has spurred several days of protest.
Boissonnault, who is openly gay and the only Liberal cabinet minister from Alberta, says Smith is pushing “draconian” measures on some of the province’s most vulnerable youth.
He told reporters on Parliament Hill this morning that he invited Smith to a meeting the day after she announced the changes, but has yet to hear back.
Smith is scheduled to speak this morning at the opening of an Alberta government office near Parliament Hill.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2024.
