The Saskatchewan government on Thursday invoked the Notwithstanding Clause as it introduced its bill to prevent students under 16 from changing their legal names or pronouns without the permission of their parents.
In a statement, education minister Jeremy Cockrill said, “Parents should always be involved in important decisions involving their children.”
The Bill lays out the rights of parents regarding the education of their children including:
- If the pupil is under 16 years, provide consent before the pupil’s teachers and other employees of the school use the pupil’s new gender-related preferred name or gender identity at school
- If sexual health content is to be presented to pupils in the school, at least two weeks before the sexual health content is presented to the pupils, parents must be informed by the principal of the subject matter of the sexual health content, the dates on which the sexual health content is to be presented to the pupils, and if the parent or guardian so chooses, withdraw the pupil from the presentation of the sexual health content by giving written notice to the principal
- Other rights like primary decision-maker with respect to the pupil’s education, courses, access to the pupil’s school file, conduct, discipline, consulting before any medical or dental examination or treatment is provided to the pupil and expelling among other issues.
On Tuesday Oct. 10, the government recalled the legislature early ahead of the fall sitting. Opposing sides gathered outside the building where fences had been erected around the law chamber. As the decibel level between those in support of the bill and groups denouncing its tabling reached a fever pitch, the Regina Police Service formed a line between the opposing voices.
The bill has a provision for a school principal to send the student to a counsellor if it’s believed they could be harmed because of the need for parental consent.
The Saskatchewan NDP points out that contrary to the education minister saying that supports are in place, “the number of counselors has only increased by 0.7 positions across the whole province. Also, the number of psychologist positions actually decreased by 1.9 positions. The number of teachers in classrooms have decreased by 66.1 positions, while enrollment in the K-12 system has increased by 3840 students, meaning more work for teachers and less support for students.”
While the opposition is vowing to do all it can to slow the passage of the bill, the government house leader says they will sit Monday to Sunday until it is passed.
A Regina judge, last month, had placed an injunction on the bill stating that he could not find any meaningful consultation with parents, students or teachers. The Saskatchewan child advocate has said the bill violates a child’s right to gender identity and expression.
Premier Scott Moe has said he has strong support from Saskatchewan parents.
Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour says the government using “the Notwithstanding Clause to suspend Charter rights is dangerous and desperate. It is a threat to all worker rights, and all Charter rights.”
