Skate Canada has decided Alberta is off-limits for major events. Not because the rinks are subpar. Not because hotels are scarce. Not because volunteers won’t show up.Skate Canada is walking away because Alberta passed a law that draws one hard line that girls’ and women’s sport is for athletes born female..OLDCORN: Danielle Smith’s brilliant immigration plan.Premier Danielle Smith called the move “disgraceful.” She’s right to be blunt. This isn’t a safety issue. It’s not a facility issue. It’s a values flex, and it lands on the backs of female athletes, local clubs, and fans who did nothing wrong.Skate Canada framed its decision as a “careful assessment” of Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act and claimed it cannot host events there while maintaining national standards for “safe and inclusive sport.” .That position is as political as it is contradictory.Start with the obvious that women’s sport exists because biology matters. Male puberty confers durable advantages in size, strength, speed, and power — the very traits that separate elite results. That’s not a slogan. It’s measurable physiology..SINGH: Loan guarantees for private property yet another self-inflicted blow to BC's economy.A major review in Sports Medicine found performance gaps become pronounced after puberty and can range widely depending on the sport. The UK Parliament’s Science Office has also summarized the evidence bluntly. Suppressing testosterone does not reliably erase the legacy effects of male puberty, raising real questions about fairness and, in contact sports, safety.That is why Alberta’s law is not radical. It is a return to a basic standard that protected female sport for decades. Two categories. One for biological males. One for biological females. .If an athlete is born male, that athlete competes in the male category. If an athlete is born female, that athlete competes in the female category.This is not about “excluding” people from sport. It is about keeping the female category from being diluted into a consolation bracket where records, medals, and team spots can be decided by male-bodied advantages. In any sport with rankings, selection standards, funding, and limited spots, allowing male-bodied athletes into the female category means real girls and women lose opportunities. That is the part Skate Canada will not say out loud..BURTON: Canada’s debt reckoning — a moral test we are failing.Skate Canada can call its decision “inclusive,” but what it is actually doing is choosing ideology over the interests of its female athletes. It is also ignoring the direction of travel in elite sport.World Athletics has excluded male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female world ranking competition. Cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, moved in the same direction for women’s events on its international calendar. World Aquatics adopted a policy that restricts the women’s category to protect fairness.These are not small organizations. They oversee global competition and understand what is at stake. .They have looked at the science, listened to athletes, and acted to preserve the integrity of the female category.Even the International Olympic Committee is signalling a shift. Multiple reports say the IOC intends to announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes in early 2026, with an explicit focus on protecting women’s sport.So Skate Canada’s Alberta boycott is not only punitive. It is out of step..MCTEAGUE: Mortgaging Canada's energy future — the hidden costs of the Carney-Smith pipeline deal.And then there is the collateral damage. Hosting national events matters. It gives local skaters a rare chance to compete close to home. It brings coaches, officials, and sponsors into the building. It drives local tourism and spending. Pulling out is a hit to clubs and cities that have invested for years in high-end facilities and volunteer networks.Skate Canada says Alberta athletes can still compete elsewhere. That’s cold comfort. .Families will pay more to travel. Young skaters will lose the experience of skating in front of home crowds. Local volunteers will be told their work is no longer welcome, not because of performance, but because a national body wants to make a point.It is also a strange stance for an organization that claims to be protecting athletes. If Skate Canada truly cared about safety and fairness, it would be supporting rules that keep the female category meaningful and safe. Instead, it is punishing the one jurisdiction willing to say, plainly, that female sport is for females..And let’s not pretend the issue is hypothetical. The pressure to erase sex-based categories is real, and so are the consequences. Every time a sport body blurs the line, it invites conflict, confusion, and unfairness. It tells girls that their category is negotiable..Smith argued that most Albertans and Canadians support protecting women and girls in sport. Whether or not one agrees with every detail of the law, the core principle is not controversial, separate categories exist to ensure fair competition. When that principle is abandoned, women’s sport becomes theatre.Skate Canada should reverse course. It should apologize to the athletes and communities it is sidelining. .BORG: Calgary Jewish community comes together in candlelight after Bondi Beach terror attack.And it should stop acting as if protecting the female category is something shameful.In a sport that rewards balance, this decision is wildly off-edge.
