Petition to the Minister of Health

Whereas:

• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms exists to protect individuals and minority communities from discriminatory laws;
• Recent legislation enacted by the Governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan restricts the rights, dignity, and safety of transgender and gender-diverse people, particularly children and youth, including access to gender-affirming and medically appropriate health care;
• These provincial governments have invoked the notwithstanding clause to shield such legislation from judicial review, thereby preventing Charter challenges from being meaningfully heard;
• The Constitution Act, 1867 provides the federal government, through section 90, with the authority to disallow certain provincial legislation in order to protect constitutional principles and minority rights; and
• The use of extraordinary constitutional powers to limit Charter protections warrants careful federal review and response.

We, the undersigned, Concerned Allies of Transgender Canadians, call upon the Minister of Health to Recommend and support, within Cabinet, the exercise of the Government of Canada’s constitutional authority, including the power of disallowance under section 90 of the Constitution Act, 1867, to annul or repeal provincial legislation enacted in Alberta and Saskatchewan that restricts the rights of transgender and gender-diverse people and has been shielded from Charter scrutiny through the use of the notwithstanding clause, and to affirm the federal government’s responsibility to uphold Charter rights across Canada.