The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan enacted The Education (Parents’ Bill of Rights) Amendment Act, 2023, also known as Bill 137, igniting a controversial discourse surrounding gender identity policy in the education sector. Parental rights over their children’s education have been essentially codified through this legislation, an act which has been received with mixed reactions.
JURIST reports detail contentious elements of the legislative move.
The bill’s most hotly contested component is Section 197.4(1) which mandates parental consent for teachers and school staff to use a student’s preferred “gender-related” name and pronouns for those under 16 years of age. The text of this section essentially replicates Saskatchewan’s Education Bureau’s previous
Parental Inclusion and Consent Policy, launched in August. In late August, the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, a Canadian LGBTQ+ organization,
mounted a legal challenge to this policy at Saskatchewan’s Court of King’s Bench.
The court responded by
granting an interlocutory injunction against the policy, declaring that such a policy could potentially inflict irreparable harm on youths under 16 who fail to have their gender identity acknowledged in their educational institution.
The province’s Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill conversely maintained that the legislation brings much-needed clarity and that the policy will stand. The impact and implications of this act, being a codified form of the contested policy, widens the scope of the controversy.
Sections 197.4(3) and (4) of the act, directly override parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. Consequently, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association responded by
issuing a press release asserting that the legislative action showcases the government’s lack of respect for charter rights and paints a poor picture of the province’s historical progression.
On the other hand, the act extends multiple rights to parents including acting as the primary decision-maker with regard to their child’s education, being regularly informed about their child’s academic performance, behavior and attendance, and the right to challenge their child’s expulsion from a school. Finally, parents are to be informed of the school’s conduct code and administrative protocols, such as its discipline policies.
According to
a statement from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, parents, and guardians with the act can now actively participate in key decisions about their children’s education. Across Canada, there have been
protests and counter-protests over gender identity and sexual orientation in educational curriculum. It’s noteworthy that New Brunswick also
introduced a similar parental consent policy in mid-August.