Alberta United Conservative Party members will soon debate 35 policy resolutions that include banning transgender people from women's bathrooms, banning non-binary gender identifiers on government documents and ensuring that trans medical treatments are not underfunded publicly.
The party's annual general assembly begins on November 1 in Red Deer, where Premier Danielle Smith's leadership will also be under review.
It is being billed by the party as the largest political convention in Canadian history, with at least 5,428 UCP members registered to participate.
Party policies are not binding on the government and member approval does not guarantee that ideas will become law.
Kristopher Wells, Canada Research Chair for Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth at MacEwan University, said Smith needs to condemn the resolutions as discriminatory, unconstitutional and dangerous.
“When you don’t report it, you allow it,” Wells said in an interview Friday.
“If passed, it would be some of the most extreme anti-trans and anti-2SLGBTQ policies not just in Canada but in the world.”
Smith said in a brief statement in his role as party leader that UCP members voted on policy resolutions that are important to them, including “banning any consumer carbon tax, protecting children, strengthening landowners' rights and protect Alberta’s jurisdictional authority.”
“As a leader, I respect the grassroots party process and look forward to the debate in November,” she said.
Wells was recently appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He said the party's resolutions, if they become policy, would constitute a direct violation of the Alberta Human Rights Act.
Wells said there are already long waiting lists and limited funding for transgender health care in Alberta, and that changing the law governing birth certificates, driver's licenses and health cards would be unconstitutional.
Receive daily national news
Get the day's top news, political, economic and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
“These policies were designed to attack the very existence of trans people in Alberta,” Wells said.
“This is the kind of hate and rhetoric that drives young people to take their own lives.”
In its policy resolution targeting bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters and dormitories, the Calgary-Lougheed electoral association argues that allowing “men” in these spaces poses a danger to women and girls.
“Alternative arrangements can be created for the small population that does not conform to their sex at the time of conception, without abolishing same-sex spaces preferred by the vast majority of the population”, it reads.
A policy resolution from the Leduc-Beaumont constituency says medical treatments for transgender people are “in the realm of cosmetic surgery and the costs should not be borne by all taxpayers.”
A Cardston-Siksika resolution says the third option for sex in official documents should be disabled to “maintain clarity and reliability.”
Since taking command of the party, Smith has made some party policies government priorities and rejected others.
A resolution passed in 2023 to keep transgender people out of women's correctional facilities was not adopted by Smith's administration.
However, new rules requiring schools to obtain parental consent before students can change their name or pronouns are expected to be introduced after lawmakers meet later this month.
Smith also promised to restrict transgender youth's access to gender-affirming health care, ban transgender participation in competitive women's sports, and require parental consent or notification for classroom instruction about sex or gender.
The Prime Minister said health policies are intended to protect children from life-altering decisions.
Smith said he aims to eliminate “unfair advantages” in sports and that “almost all parents” will still love and care for their children no matter what choice they make.
Other policies up for debate at the November UCP meeting include abandoning the province's net-zero emissions targets, banning union political donations, working to increase the number of medical graduates in Alberta and reviewing the gas and gas pricing system. electricity from the province to reduce costs.
