JASPER CERVO'S HEART is pounding. The 14-year-old's Apple Watch keeps buzzing while he talks, sending him notifications in bold, white text: "High heart rate."
"I'm sorry," he says, breaking off mid-sentence for the third time. "I'm really nervous."
Sitting at his dining room table in Leduc, Alta., on a March afternoon, Jasper is trying to explain what it's like to be a trans kid in a province that recently introduced plans to implement Canada's most restrictive trans youth policies. His mom, Dani Barnsley, hovers nearby, sipping coffee, while her boyfriend, Aziz Memon, cleans up the kitchen.
The trio, along with Jasper's older brother, moved into this townhouse recently. There's a bit of the whole family in the room. A nearby bookcase is filled with Tarot decks, feminist-politics books and Judy Blume novels. Shelves covered with plants and crystals, a Star Wars Funko Pop, a crocheted Pokémon plushie Aziz handmade for the kids-line the walls. Jasper wanted to meet here because home is where he feels most comfortable.
Still, the conversation is a hard one to have. In January, Alberta premier Danielle Smith proposed a slew of gender-identity-related policies set to be implemented this fall. The new rules will require schools to get parental notification and consent before using a different name or pronoun for children 15 and under in the classroom. (Only notification, not consent, will be required for 16- and 17-year-olds.) Similar rules were introduced in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick in 2023, but Alberta's policy went a step further, proposing a ban on access to gender-affirming hormones and puberty blockers for anyone under 16. (Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could access both with parental consent, and children already receiving care will be able to continue.)
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