By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on December 9, 2024.

OTTAWA—While governments are focusing on gender designation in sport, women are just making it happen.

Charge Ottawa opened the second season last week with a three-two victory over the Toronto Sceptres at TD Place.

The game started a new season with a new name.

The league launched last year without team names, and fans were thrilled with the Charge new look.

Season ticket holders were snapping up merchandise while fans in the thousands arrived to witness the season opener for the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government passed three bills last week limiting transgender rights.

One bill is designed to prohibit transgender pronoun choices by minors, another restricts transgender access to human rights support.

The third is a sport bill. The Fairness and Safety in Sport Act is designed to require school boards, educational institutions and provincial sports organizations to develop policies to “protect the integrity of female athletic competitions by ensuring women and girls have the opportunity to compete in biological female-only divisions.”

The law will also require parents to opt in to education on transgender issues. Current law requires parents to opt out. The burdensome requirements for opting in include informing parents one month in advance and offering alternative education for children who do not get gender sex education.

The law will also limit educational material and lesson plans on sexual orientation and gender identity, potentially erasing same-sex families from the curriculum.

Opponents say the proposals go against research that proves sexual education reduces the number of unwanted pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases and unchecked child abuse.

Puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy would be illegal for children under the age of 16. Youth aged 16 to 17 would require parental consent for such therapies.

Some bill opponents say the prohibition would be particularly challenging for adolescents trying to avoid puberty that is not aligned with their sexual identity.

Equality groups are vowing to fight the Alberta legislation as they have enjoined legal challenges against similar changes to law and policy in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

The Canadian Medical Association, the Alberta Medical Association, and the Canadian Paediatric Society oppose the medical limitations in the legislation.

The Alberta changes go beyond those introduced by New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.

The New Brunswick government that introduced a prohibitive transgender law was defeated recently while the Saskatchewan government faced a steep drop in its recent election support.

For years, governments have used their power to keep women out of sport, even when female athletic prowess would have meant they could participate equally in men’s sport.

Some say the sport changes are just another example of government weakening laws that protect athletes from harassment and bullying.

Meanwhile, girls and women are just doing it.

From the PWHL to the wildly popular American-based Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), professional sports has opened a new venue for girls who want to make a career of their sport of choice.

The WNBA, which has been operating for almost 30 years, has 13 teams and is the premier women’s pro team globally. Two more teams will join the league next year and their televised games are very popular.

The world of tennis is also changing as the issue of pay equality has been addressed between the genders. Last year, the Women’s Tennis Association approved a plan to achieve pay equity by 2033. Part of that proposal means that gender payments for non-Grand Slam 1,000 and 500-level tournaments will be equal in 2027.

Governments have ignored their potential role in pay equity although former federal sport minister Pascale St-Onge moved quickly to stem sexual harassment in sport, suspending world junior hockey financial support while the issue of sexual assault was addressed.

Smith could be focusing her government’s attention on equality for women and girls in sport. Instead, she is catering to a small minority that is interested in stamping out understanding or support for those who choose to change their gender.

By targeting her attention on reducing support for adolescents struggling with gender identity issues, Smith will shore up support with ultra-conservative members of her caucus.

But she opens the door to a revolt by ordinary Albertans who believe there are other health issues far more important than what pronoun is used to identify non-binary students in the classroom.

Naheed Nenshi and opposition New Democrats are hoping the legislation will provoke the same reaction from Albertans that New Brunswickers expressed at the polls when they dumped the Blaine Higgs Progressive Conservative government.

Only time will tell.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.