CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised to fight for parental rights in a recent speech but failed to commit to any legislation.
On November 1, Smith told Albertans at the United Conservative Party’s (UPC) annual general meeting that she is committed to ensuring that parents are recognized as the primary authority over their children.
“I want every parent listening today to hear me loud and clear: Parents are the primary caregivers and educators of their children,” Smith said.
“We cannot have a successful province or a successful society without strong and nurturing families,” she added.
“Regardless of how often the extreme left undermines the role of parents, I want you to know that parental rights and choice in your child’s education is and will continue to be a fundamental core principle of this party, and this government, and we will never apologize for it,” Smith said.
While Smith also expressed her dedication to preserve Alberta’s energy system, her comments on parental rights received the loudest applause the crowd of 3,800 delegates at the UPC meeting.
However, Smith stopped short of promising any legislation to ensure the rights are parents are safeguarded from LGBT activists.
After her speech, Smith told reporters that Alberta has already implemented the Education Act, which allows parents to remove their children from sex-ed classes. Further legislation would require support from her caucus and the province.
“We have to take that back as a caucus discussion and then also consult Albertans as a whole,” she said.
During the annual meeting, members passed a policy mandating parental consent for their children to go by a different gender or pronouns at school. However, the policy does not bind the Alberta government.
Despite this, Smith said the opinion of UPC members is important for Alberta lawmakers in developing new legislation for the province.
Smith’s comments come after both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick introduced legislation to protect parental rights despite incurring the ire of the LGBT mob.
In September, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced that he will invoke his government’s notwithstanding clause to protect legislation stating that parents must be told if their child changes “genders” at school; a judge had ruled against enforcement of the law earlier that day.
The notwithstanding clause, embedded in section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allows provinces to temporarily override sections of the Charter and protect new laws from being scrapped by the courts.
Saskatchewan is following the example of New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, who was condemned by LGBT activists for reviewing the province’s “gender identity” policy that allowed schools to hide students’ “transgender” status from parents.
“For [a desire to be identified with the opposite sex] purposefully to be hidden from the parents, that’s a problem,” Higgs told reporters. He wants to change Policy 713, which currently requires children’s consent for their parents to be informed if they decide to “change” gender at school.
Under the new policy, teachers need parental consent to use different names or pronouns for students younger than 16.
In early August, pro-LGBT politicians tried unsuccessfully to remove Higgs from office. Their failure led Progressive Conservative Party members to say that, despite the media backlash, Higgs has the support of the “silent majority.”
Increasingly, Conservative leaders who have shown little to no concern over LGBT propaganda pushed on children have been forced to take notice as Canadians are increasingly standing up to LGBT activists.
According to an August survey, 86 percent of Saskatchewan-based participants are for parental rights and support the province’s new laws.
In September, Canadians across the country gathered in cities to partake in the Million Person March against LGBT indoctrination in schools.