Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced sweeping policy changes regarding transgender procedures, parental rights, and women’s sports.

The new rules will ban gender reassignment procedures, both “top and bottom” surgeries, for all children aged 17 and under.

Puberty blockers will be banned for all children aged 15 and under.

“Teachers are PROHIBITED from unilaterally changing the name and pronouns of young children without the consent of parents,” journalist Keean Bexte added.

“Biological Women will have the right to participate in WOMEN ONLY sports. Male-to-female transgender athletes will not have access to these spaces,” he noted.

“Gender identity can be a hard thing to talk about, especially when you are involved. But this conversation is extremely important and parental involvement is critical. Kids need to know we love and support them,” Danielle Smith wrote.

Watch Smith’s message to Albertans:

Smith, a member of the United Conservative Party, angered officials from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party with the policy changes.

Daily Mail reports:

Smith, a member of the United Conservative Party, said the aim was to protect children, while also expanding provisions for adult trans healthcare. She has angered officials from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which has taken a so-called ‘affirming’ stance on procedures for children who say they are trans.

She said that she wanted all people to feel welcome and supported in Alberta – a sparsely-populated province of 4.4 million people bordering British Colombia in western Canada, with Calgary its largest city.

But, she said, she was not prepared to roll the dice with ‘complex and often changing emotions of those teenagers’.

‘Making permanent and irreversible decisions regarding one’s biological sex, while still a youth, can severely limit that child’s choices in the future,’ said Smith.

She said opting for life-changing medical procedures ‘poses a risk to that child’s future.’

Under Smith’s new policy, all children under the age of 17 are banned from having top and bottom surgery.

Children aged 15 and under are banned from taking puberty blockers and hormone therapy, unless such therapy has already started. Teenagers aged 16 and 17 can start hormone therapy as long as they have permission from their parents, a physician and a psychologist.

Parents will need to give permission before a student aged 15 and under can use a name or pronoun at school other than what they were given at birth: those aged 16 and 17 won’t require parental permission, but the schools will have to inform the parents.

“Trudeau was asked if he will meet with Danielle Smith while she is in Ottawa to discuss her gender policy proposal concerning minors,” The Counter Signal wrote.

Watch Trudeau’s response:

More from The Counter Signal:

Premier Smith had already indicated she believes in having a strong emphasis on family involvement in educational decisions, particularly concerning personal and sensitive matters like gender identity.

At the UCP convention in November, Smith said “Parents are the primary caregivers and educators of their children.” Of all the issues discussed at the two-day event, this statement garnered the loudest applause from party delegates.

Some adult members of the transgender community have voiced their support for the focus on protecting vulnerable kids.

Alberta NDP members have quite predictably voiced their concerns over the pending policies, accusing Smith of targeting vulnerable children. Rachel Notley responded to Smith’s Wednesday announcement by calling the policies “hateful.”

Moreover, the NDP’s federal counterpart recently said that “trans kids” are one of the most vulnerable groups in Canada and even promoted giving them quick access to puberty blockers.

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