Saddle Lake Cree Nation announces gender-affirming care safe haven as Premier Smith respects Indigenous sovereignty

Saddle Lake Cree Nation, located northeast of Edmonton, announced a plan to offer gender-affirming medical care on reserve land as a safe haven, citing treaty rights and the Nation's jurisdiction over health services.

Premier Danielle Smith responded Thursday by saying she respects the First Nation's sovereignty. "I don't have any authority over the First Nation," she told reporters at an event in Edmonton. Her comments came a day after the Saddle Lake announcement.

The Nation says the plan falls within its jurisdiction and that access to health care is a treaty right. Saddle Lake Chief Dale Steinhauer called Alberta's laws affecting transgender, gender diverse, and two-spirit people dehumanizing. "When one group's rights are removed, we are all affected," Steinhauer said. The First Nation says it won't stand by as children and families lose their rights.

Alberta law, passed as Bill 26 (the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 (No. 2)) on December 5, 2024, prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to transgender and gender diverse children under age 16. Smith has said the law protects children and their fertility and preserves choice. The United Conservative government invoked the Charter's notwithstanding clause to shield the law from court challenges.

Saddle Lake is working to attract clinicians to provide care on its land and has launched fundraising to develop its health law and defend it against potential legal challenges. An online fundraiser launched less than 24 hours before a report on the announcement appeared.

Steinhauer cited the medicine chest clause of Treaty 6, signed in 1876. The clause states the Crown will keep a medicine chest in the home of each federal government agent working on or near the reserve. Indigenous leaders have long argued this commits the Crown to comprehensive health care. Steinhauer framed the Nation's plan as invoking that treaty right.

Egale Canada and Skipping Stone are requesting an injunction to block denial of health care for gender diverse youth while Alberta's Bill 26 faces constitutional testing. The source material does not specify whether Alberta has taken or plans legal action against Saddle Lake Cree Nation, details of the health law the Nation is drafting, or whether clinicians have committed to providing care on the reserve.