Saskatchewan legislature passes pronoun bill
Saskatchewan has passed a controversial bill that requires parental consent if a student under the age of 16 wants to be referred to by a different pronoun.
The Saskatchewan government passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights at a special sitting on Friday and invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The new law would establish “the right of the parents and/or guardians to provide consent for their child to change their gender-related preferred name or gender identity at school if the child is under the age of 16.”
The province said in a news release that the new bill “protects the important role that parents and guardians have in supporting their children.”
Today in the Legislature, the Parents’ Bill of Rights was passed into law, ensuring that parents and guardians will be involved in all important decisions about their children’s education. pic.twitter.com/wHmbpNap5G
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) October 20, 2023
“Parents and guardians have a right to know what is being taught in their children’s school,” Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said. “‘The Parents’ Bill of Rights’ is an inclusionary policy that ensures that parents are at the forefront of every important decision in their child’s life.”
The Bill, passed today, invokes section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to entrench in law key elements of the parental inclusion and consent policies announced on August 22, 2023. It will permit the legislation to operate without interruption.
The province added that the passing of the bill would provide 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 was hotly debated in the province and earlier this week, a commissioner with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission resigned over the then-proposed pronoun legislation.
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