The nation, located northeast of Edmonton, said it’s working to attract clinicians to provide care on its reserve land.

It has also started fundraising to develop its health law and defend it against potential legal challenges.

Steinhauer said clinicians who provide gender-affirming care on reserve land would be exempted from sanctioning by regulatory bodies.

Steinhauer cited the medicine chest clause of Treaty 6, signed 150 years ago, which says the Crown will keep a medicine chest in the home of each federal government agent working on or near a reserve.

It’s widely understood by First Nations to be a commitment to provide comprehensive health care, and Indigenous leaders have criticized the Crown for failing to live up to the promise.

Steinhauer asked how the Alberta government could stop First Nations doctors from practising, or accessing the medicine chest.

Late last year, Smith’s United Conservative Party government used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to shield its law from court challenges.

The law prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers or hormone therapy to transgender and gender diverse children under 16.

Alberta’s health-care law is one of three from the UCP government impacting transgender people across the province.

Another requires parental consent for students under 16 to change their names or pronouns at school. The third bans transgender athletes 12 and older from participating in amateur competitive female sports.

Heather Jenkins, a spokesperson for Justice Minister Mickey Amery, repeated in a statement Wednesday that the laws are about preserving choice for children and youth, strengthening the role of parents, and ensuring fairness and safety in amateur competitive sports.

Respect to Saddle Lake Cree Nation