There were protests outside the Legislature, but there was no first reading on Tuesday of a bill that would use the notwithstanding clause in the Canadian Constitution to pass the government’s so-called “gender pronoun legislation.”

The NDP refused to grant leave to begin the debate on Tuesday afternoon. This exchange between Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill and NDP Education critic Matt Love was typical of the proceedings.

First reading of the bill will be held on Thursday, which will also be the first time that the public will be able to see the actual text of the legislation.

Meantime, there were several hundred protestors in front of the Legislature on Tuesday. The larger group opposed the pronoun legislation, while a smaller group supported the government policy. Police were on site to keep the two sides apart.

(Above photo credit:  Andrew Dawson, CKRM Radio in Regina)