Alberta legislature member compares transgender surgery to livestock castration

The Alberta legislature in Edmonton on Oct. 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

An Alberta legislature member was called on by the Opposition to apologize Thursday after saying the province has a duty to step in to deal with “bad parents” while also comparing transgender surgery to the castration of livestock.

Speaking to reporters, Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said United Conservative backbencher Shane Getson should apologize for “comparing human beings to cattle.”

Nenshi added, “No parent in this province wants the premier or her four health ministers, and now Shane Getson, sitting in the diagnostic room with them.”

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Getson made the remark Wednesday in chamber debate over a bill that uses the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to protect a trio of transgender laws from court challenge.

One law bans gender reassignment surgery for those under 18 and prohibits drug therapies, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for gender reassignment for anyone under 16.

Currently, national policy restricts bottom surgery across Canada to those 18 and over, and such procedures don’t take place in Alberta. Puberty blockers are also considered reversible; if a patient later pursues hormone therapy, it’s considered partially reversible.

LGBTQ+ advocates have said the Alberta law is an intolerable infringement on the rights of patients, and doctors say it’s a dangerous political intervention in what should be clinical decision-making.

Getson said using the notwithstanding clause to override rights in this case is necessary because some parents need intervention to prevent them from making decisions that may not be in the best interests of their children.

He gave the example of castrating a bull to make it a steer, saying once the animal is a steer, there’s no going back.

“You’re not going to grow back those parts if you change your mind,” Getson said on the first full day of debate on the bill.

“If the steer changes his mind, too late; you’re a steer.”

RELATED STORIES:

• Alberta invokes notwithstanding clause to stop court challenges of transgender laws
• Teachers’ union criticizes Alberta’s Charter override on transgender policies

In a statement Thursday, Getson added that using the notwithstanding clause ensures the laws move forward without delay or uncertainty.

“We cannot allow this legislation to be paused throughout lengthy court proceedings -- potentially putting children at risk for years,” he said.

“We will use every legal and constitutional tool available to safeguard the health and well-being of children and strengthen the role of parents as a child’s primary caregiver.”

Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP government has been criticized as having a double standard with parental direction over a child’s decision-making. The government says parental rights are paramount.

Getson told the house that, unfortunately, that can’t be the rule when it comes to some parents and that it’s sadly reflected in social worker interventions.

“You have to defend parents’ rights to the end, unless they’re bad parents,” Getson said, noting as a child, he was physically abused by his father and mentally abused by his mother. “That’s why we’ve got all these other checks and balances.

“We want to make sure that these kids -- God bless them -- get to a point of maturity where they can make that decision and that their parents’ best intentions -- or maybe not, I don’t know -- don’t cause irreparable damage.”

Smith, in her remarks to the house Wednesday, said the key issue is protecting children from having “medical experiments” performed on them.

“We believe in science,” Smith said.

“This is about protecting children and making sure that medical experiments are not conducted on them because we do not have good data.”

The debate continued in the house Thursday.

NDP legislature member Janis Irwin, who is gay, accused Smith’s government of stripping away human rights for LGBTQ+ Albertans.

She noted Thursday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, which recognizes those who have died as a result of anti-trans hate and violence.

Tanya Fir, minister for arts, culture and the status of women, said the government was protecting children’s rights by making sure they can’t make adult decisions before they’re old enough.

“Any decisions that would affect an individual’s biological sex and possible reproductive abilities in the future, that needs to be made when you’re an adult,” she said.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press