B.C. NDP, Greens block debate on bill restricting gender transitions for minors

The British Columbia legislature has blocked a proposed private member’s bill from a OneBC MLA that sought to prohibit gender transition treatments for minors.

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The British Columbia legislature has blocked a proposed private member’s bill from a OneBC MLA that sought to prohibit gender transition treatments for minors and impose new policies on gender identity issues in public schools.

On Wednesday, all New Democrat MLAs present in the chamber, along with five participating remotely, voted against tabling the OneBC Gender Identity and Public Transparency Act. They were joined by Independent MLA Elenore Sturko and both Green Party members.

The vote prevents the bill from being introduced for debate, effectively halting its progress before first reading.

Following the decision, OneBC MLA Tara Armstrong, who represents Kelowna–Lake Country, rose on a point of privilege to discuss the bill’s contents, briefly drawing jeers from several members of the assembly.

In another exchange, B.C. NDP MLA for Burnaby East, Rohini Arora, accused Armstrong of “threatening her” and asked the Speaker how to address the issue.

Speaker Raj Chouhan told Arora he could not hear the exchange she was referring to and dismissed her concerns.

As previously reported by True North, Armstrong’s proposed bill would have required parental notification if a student’s gender expression differed from their sex, restricted discussions of gender transition in schools, and barred the use of public funds for gender-affirming medical procedures for minors.

This is not the first time the B.C. NDP government has blocked a private member’s bill on gender or sex-based policy. In 2024, then–BC United MLA John Rustad was prevented from tabling his Fairness in Women’s and Girls’ Sports Act, which sought to restrict female athletic competitions to biological women.

The OneBC Party, a new entrant in provincial politics, has made opposition to gender transition procedures for minors a central part of its platform.

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said Armstrong’s tabled bill represented “another sad day in the history of the legislature” and further accused the OneBC Party and the B.C. Conservative caucus of bringing “intolerance, racism and hatred” into the legislative assembly.

In a point of order, the B.C. Conservative MLA for Prince George-Valemount called Sharma’s comments about her party’s caucus “inaccurate and untrue” and demanded an apology.

Sharma refused, saying only that she would “take a look at the transcripts.”