Bell: On parents rights, Smith believes Albertans are on her side

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Published Feb 02, 2024  •  Last updated 2 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Premier Danielle Smith speaks to media at the McDougall Centre in Calgary on Thursday, February 1, 2024. Brent Calver/Postmedia

Premier Danielle Smith is confident.

She is confident Albertans are with her.

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“I am confident Albertans do not want children to make irreversible decisions that impact their reproductive health,” says Smith.

“I am confident they do not think these are child decisions to make, that they are adult decisions to make.

“I am also confident parents love their kids and they want to know what’s going on with their kids.

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“And anyone who is trying to put roadblocks in that child-parent relationship, I don’t think they have public support.”

If you want to know how far down the rabbit hole we’ve gone in the argy-bargy over the rights of parents and the rights of trans kids consider a question asked of Premier Danielle Smith Thursday afternoon.

You see, the premier’s legal name is Marlaina Danielle Smith but she goes by Danielle, her middle name.

Smith is asked about it. The question has to be a joke. Please tell us it’s a joke.

How can the premier propose restricting kids from changing their name when she changed hers?

Huh.

Please say it’s, a prank, a stunt, a juvenile giggle, a waste of a question, a lame attempt at a wisecrack.

Well, first off the premier just uses her middle name instead of her first name. Big deal.

And what’s being talked about in Smith’s new rules is a child making a gender-based name change.

If they’re 15 or under a parent must sign off on the change.

If they’re 16 or 17 they can make the name change as long as the parent knows.

Just to keep going down the rabbit hole a little while longer.

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Smith’s parents chose to call her Danielle.

On the birth certificate they put the full name Marlaina Danielle Smith.

They liked the ring of it better than Danielle Marlaina Smith.

“That’s what it comes down to,” says the premier, who answers as if it’s a serious question.

Then she’s asked about the far-right of United Conservative voters, a small percentage of the population the question says, presumably a sinister group who holds sway over Smith.

Back in the real world, this scribbler makes a very preliminary observation.

It appears the people who like hash browns more than hashtags seem to be backing Premier Danielle Smith on her recent parental rights plan.

It’s an observation after talking to people far away from the cocoon of late-night social media jousting.

It’s not a scientific finding. It’s not a nose count, it’s not a sample from a pollster.

Smith’s people maintain real polling they have been shown reveals the premier has the backing of most Albertans on this one. A solid majority.

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On social media, those who hate Smith’s guts and/or intensely oppose where Smith is headed with parental rights say that’s baloney and it doesn’t matter what people think because the premier is acting illegally.

There will be salvation from the courts one day.

Smith doesn’t sound worried.

“They don’t become able to make fully adult decisions on a lot of things until they’re 18. We want to make sure children do not prematurely make decisions that are going to be irreversible.”

Once again we hear how people have to be adults to get gender reassignment surgery and how a person will have to be at least 16 years old to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and, if you’re 16 or 17, only with the say-so of a parent, doctor and psychologist.

Women and girls will not be forced to compete with biologically stronger transgender female athletes.

Parents will have to opt-in their child to a class where a teacher provides instruction on gender identity, sexual orientation or sexuality.

We know about the name change stuff.

The provincial government will also have to approve third-party materials and presentations on gender identity, sexual orientation and sexuality to make sure they’re appropriate for the age of the students.

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On the political battlefield, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not happy with the Smith government.

Like that’s never happened before.

Arif Virani, Trudeau’s justice minister, points to Smith “perhaps even demonizing” trans kids and says what the premier is doing is “not becoming of her office.”

Mark Holland, Trudeau’s health minister, is coming to Alberta very soon and will meet with this province’s health minister Adriana LaGrange.

Holland says he’s “deeply disturbed” and Smith is “putting kids at risk” and is playing politics and it’s “extremely dangerous.”

He wants “to really understand what this is going to mean and the devastation it’s going to bring.”

LaGrange will meet with Trudeau’s man but it is said one thing is certain.

The Danielle Smith government will not blink.

rbell@postmedia.com

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