Scapegoating transgender youth and what the UCP is trying to hide: A deeper look at Bill 9
By Mia Gilje, December 17 2025—
In Alberta, control over transgender youth bodies has been debated repeatedly over the last couple of years.
What is Bill 9?
Bill 9, or the Protecting Alberta’s Children Statues Amendment Act is a blatant attempt on the part of the United Conservatives Party (UCP) to control the bodily autonomy of trans individuals. It creates artificial narratives and problems surrounding the queer community to distract from the legitimate issues impacting the whole province.
Originally known as the “Transgender youth policy” it was first proposed in February 2024. Its goal was to enact several different measures against transgender youth to protect children from making, “irreversible decisions that impact their reproductive health,” said Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith.
However, these bold claims lack real substance. They are misleading and hypocritical. The only arguments and evidence that the UCP had to back their measures was based on catastrophizing irregularities and making them appear as if it was the norm.
What measures are being enforced?
One of the measures notes, “top and bottom surgeries will be banned for minors aged 17 and under.” As of right now and at the time this measure was introduced, bottom surgery on youth was already banned throughout Canada. As for top surgery, in 2022-23 Alberta Health recorded 223 chest surgeries on people below the age of 18 in the province. Only eight of those were treatments for gender dysphoria, while the rest were for other medical reasons, specifically pain treatment or breast cancer.
The policy also called for the banning of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender affirmation, despite puberty blockers not causing permanent physical changes. This directly contradicts Smith calling these medical treatments “irreversible decisions.”
The transgender youth policy was not just looking to constrict medical gender affirming care, it also aimed to limit the ability of youth to transition socially. It stated that “parental notification and consent will be required for a school to alter the name or pronouns of any child under age 15.”
A core aspect of childhood and adolescence is discovering a sense of self and identity, which involves gender identity. Not being able to explore gender and build a stable sense of self during this period of development can lead to anxiety, low self-esteem and even depression.
For many, school is the only secondary environment away from home that allows discovery without the surveillance of family. Enforcing unavoidable parental involvement immediately takes away the freedom and safety of school. Additionally, it diminishes the abilities of teachers to be a trusted adult figure. Without the protection of confidentiality, students who may otherwise seek guidance or support from teachers and other adults within schools lose that resource and may be left to cope in isolation.
Where is the bill at now?
In June 2025, Justice Allion Kuntz ruled the law could “cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth,” pausing the policy from going forward.
This allowed trans youth and their parents to sigh a breath of relief.
The Albertan government dedicated resources and energy into this ‘non-issue’ for over a year but it finally seemed that this policy was going to finally be put to rest.
On Nov. 18, 2025, the UCP invoked the notwithstanding clause to force Bill 9 into existence. This is the fourth notwithstanding clause Smith has invoked in just one month, following its use during the provincial wide teacher strike.
The impact of the notwithstanding clause and what issues its taking away from
A notwithstanding clause is a provision within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that allows a legislature to enforce a law in spite of any conflicts deeming the law as unconstitutional. It can be used in sections 2 and 7 to 15 — section 15 being equality rights.
Bill 9 has already been ruled as unconstitutional by Justice Allion Kuntz. It has been declared in court as going against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The UCP is repeatedly abusing the notwithstanding clause to strip Albertans of their rights and freedoms without repercussions.
The UCP forcing Bill 9 into legislation the same month as a forced stop to the teacher strike is not a coincidence. Smith is using the controversies surrounding trans youth and gender affirming care as a scapegoat, to feebly distract and divide Albertans from the issues that are actually impacting their lives.
The Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) strike was the biggest in the history of Alberta. Within the demands the ATA were asking for were smaller class sizes, more support staff (EAs) and resources for increasingly complex student needs. These are issues that are currently impacting children. Not gender affirming surgery, changing of pronouns or even the bills controlling Transgirls participation in youth sports.
Protests are being held across the province against Bill 9. On Nov. 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), the McDougall Center in Calgary saw roughly 500 people gathered to protest Bill 9. The notwithstanding clause was invoked two days before TDOR, turning this night meant for mourning into a moment of action. The people have spoken and it is not in support.
For the UCP, there is no better time to attempt and prevent unity between Albertans. It has been proven with statistics and testimonials from both trans youth and health professionals that seeking medical or societal gender-affirming care is not harmful. The measures Bill 9 is enforcing are not backed by substantial research. Not only are they already enforced by national law (therefore being redundant), they are far more harmful to youth than beneficial. This is simply uneducated discrimination.
Children won’t benefit from this bill, parents won’t benefit from this bill, and the ATA have stated that teachers won’t benefit and are actively in opposition to it.The UCP has belittled the democratic process in Alberta and are using trans youth as a shield.
In an era of rampant inflation, unemployment and housing crises it is nothing but shameful that our province’s government is investing their time and our resources in useless legislation.
For the sake of every Albertan, do better Danielle Smith.
This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.