The Government of Saskatchewan has passed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The controversial bill prevents children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without receiving parental consent. The Opposition New Democrats opposed the bill, saying it strips rights from vulnerable people. Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he expects all school divisions to abide by the legislation and adds that he will be reaching out to school divisions to start the discussions around implementation .
Premier Scott Moe says what the Bill does is provide supports to be built around the child so they can have that conversation with their parents. The Sask. Party Government says the passing of the bill “provides parents with assurance and confidence that they will be involved in the important decisions involving their children no matter where they go to school in Saskatchewan.” The Bill has received royal assent and is now in force.
The notwithstanding clause gives provincial governments or Parliament the ability, through the passage of a law, to override certain portions of the Charter of Rights for five years.
NDP Leader Carla Beck believes the emergency sitting to pass this Bill shows the Sask Party government’s misplaced priorities, when instead they should be focusing on things like healthcare and cost of living increases. She says, “The fact that Scott Moe declared the first emergency sitting in 24 years to essentially police what kids call each other on the playground says a whole lot about his priorities.”
Beck notes that the Premier has said the pronoun policy has widespread support, but according to a recent Insightrix poll inflation is of most concern to Saskatchewan residents followed by healthcare and the pronoun issue is in eighth place with 18 per cent identifying the issue as being a top priority. As well, the Official Opposition Leader says the new Bill violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
The President of the Saskatchewan says the newly passed pronoun policy was done so without consultations with parents, school board members, school administrators, mental health experts of the STF. In a statement, Samantha Becotte says, “Today’s passage of Bill 137 places every teacher in Saskatchewan in a difficult position: do they obey the law, thereby potentially placing a child in an extremely dangerous position or ignore it and leave themselves open to legal jeopardy.”
From the time Premier Scott Moe announced the Bill this summer through to this week, there have been rallies, some of them heated with both sides head-to-head, on this issue.
