OTTAWA — The federal government is closely monitoring a new law in Alberta that restricts transgender athletes from competing in female-only sports categories. Alyson Fair, a spokesperson for Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden, emphasized the government's commitment to an inclusive sports system. "Our government believes in a sport system that provides opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sport, including the transgender community," Fair stated in an email. She added that discrimination against the transgender community in sports is unacceptable and detrimental to an already vulnerable group.

Fair noted that her office, along with Women and Gender Equality Minister Rechie Valdez's office, will keep a watchful eye on the law's implementation this fall. "Ensuring the integrity and fairness of the female category remains crucial, especially in elite and high-performance sport. To emphasize, this is not a license to discriminate," she wrote.

The law, which took effect at the beginning of the school year, mandates that all female athletes aged 12 and older submit a form confirming they were assigned female at birth. The enforcement mechanism includes a complaint system that allows individuals to challenge an athlete's eligibility by submitting a confidential form to the relevant school board or provincial sports organization. If a challenge is deemed valid, the athlete will be required to provide birth registration documents. Athletes who misrepresent their birth gender or refuse to submit the required documents will be permanently barred from competing in female sports in Alberta.

Vanessa Gomez, a spokesperson for Alberta’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport, stated that the law includes protections against false challenges. "Boards of in-scope entities may impose reasonable sanctions against any person who, in the opinion of the board, challenges the eligibility of an athlete in bad faith," Gomez explained. She did not provide specific examples of what would constitute valid grounds for a challenge, suggesting that such inquiries should be directed to the boards enforcing the policy.

Blaine Badiuk, a Lethbridge resident who participated in consultations regarding the policy, expressed a cautious outlook on its rollout. "I think there has to be some kind of challenge mechanism in place to give the policy teeth, but it’s something that needs to be handled with the utmost discretion," Badiuk said. As a transgender individual, Badiuk hopes the challenge process will not lead to unwarranted scrutiny of female athletes based on their appearance, a practice referred to as "transvestigation." "Information supporting the grounds of a challenge can’t be something like ‘she’s too tall’ or she has short hair," Badiuk added.

The introduction of this law has sparked significant debate, with several prominent Liberals, including former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, criticizing the Alberta government for targeting vulnerable minors for political purposes. Trudeau labeled the measures, which also include mandatory parental notification for school pronoun changes and restrictions on medical transitions for minors, as the "most anti-LGBT policies" in Canada.