MLA Shane Getson and Premier Danielle Smith arrive at the fire command centre in Hinton, Alta., on Friday, July 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
The Alberta legislature in Edmonton on Oct. 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
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MLA Shane Getson and Premier Danielle Smith arrive at the fire command centre in Hinton, Alta., on Friday, July 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
EDMONTON - An Alberta legislature member was called on by the Opposition to apologize Thursday after saying the province has a duty to step in to deal with 鈥渂ad parents鈥 while also comparing transgender surgery to the castration of livestock.
Speaking to reporters, Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said United Conservative backbencher Shane Getson should apologize for "comparing human beings to cattle."
Nenshi added, "No parent in this province wants the premier or her four health ministers, and now Shane Getson, sitting in the diagnostic room with them.鈥
A spokesman for Getson and the United Conservative caucus could not be immediately reached for comment.
Getson made the comments Wednesday in chamber debate over a bill that uses the Charter's notwithstanding clause to protect a trio of transgender laws from court challenge.
One law bans gender reassignment surgery for those under 18 and prohibits drug therapies, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for gender reassignment for anyone under 16.
Currently, national policy restricts bottom surgery across Canada to those 18 and over, and such procedures don't take place in Alberta.
LGBTQ+ advocates have said the law is an intolerable infringement on the rights of patients, and doctors say it's a dangerous political intervention in what should be clinical decision-making.
Getson said using the notwithstanding clause to override rights in this case is necessary because some parents need intervention to prevent them from making decisions that may not be in the best interests of their children.
He gave the example of castrating a bull to make it a steer, saying once the animal is a steer, there鈥檚 no going back.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to grow back those parts if you change your mind,鈥 Getson said on the first full day of debate on the bill.
鈥淚f the steer changes his mind, too late; you鈥檙e a steer.鈥
Premier Danielle Smith鈥檚 UCP government has been criticized as having a double standard with parental direction over a child鈥檚 decision-making. The government says parental rights are paramount.
Getson told the house that, unfortunately, that can鈥檛 be the rule when it comes to some parents and that it's sadly reflected in social worker interventions.
鈥淵ou have to defend parents鈥 rights to the end, unless they鈥檙e bad parents,鈥 Getson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檝e got all these other checks and balances.
"We want to make sure that these kids 鈥 God bless them 鈥 get to a point of maturity where they can make that decision and that their parents' best intentions 鈥 or maybe not, I don't know 鈥 don't cause irreparable damage."
Smith, in her remarks to the house Wednesday, said the key issue is protecting children from having 鈥渕edical experiments鈥 performed on them.
"We believe in science," Smith said.
"This is about protecting children and making sure that medical experiments are not conducted on them because we do not have good data."
The debate continued in the house Thursday.聽
NDP legislature member Janis Irwin, who is gay, accused Smith's government of stripping away human rights for LGBTQ+ Albertans.
She noted Thursday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, which recognizes those who have died as a result of anti-trans hate and violence.
Tanya Fir, minister for arts, culture and the status of women, said the government was protecting children's rights by making sure they can't make adult decisions before they're old enough.
"Any decisions that would affect an individual's biological sex and possible reproductive abilities in the future, that needs to be made when you're an adult," she said.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 20, 2025.
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version included a photo that mistakenly identified Shane Getson.