Lawyer involved in Alberta transgender bill challenge dismayed by notwithstanding clause comment [Video]

A lawyer fighting a new Alberta law affecting transgender youth says he’s disappointed Premier Danielle Smith will use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause if need be to shield the changes from legal challenge.

“It’s hard to choose the right words. It’s cynical, incredibly disturbing and an inappropriate action by a leader,” Bennett Jensen of Egale Canada said Monday in an interview.

Jensen said he had hoped Smith would accept the decision of a court if it found that her law violated Charter rights.

Jensen is the legal director for one of two organizations jointly challenging the law.

The legislation bans doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16 and prohibits gender-affirming “top” surgeries for minors.

For months, Smith dismissed the notwithstanding clause question as moot given she believed the new restrictions fall within provisions of the Charter and would withstand a legal challenge.

But on her Saturday radio show which airs on Corus …