OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The Supreme Court of Canada will hear appeals over Saskatchewan’s policy requiring parental consent for children to go by different pronouns at school.
On November 6, the Supreme Court announced that appeals in a challenge of Saskatchewan’s school pronoun law, Bill 137, will proceed after the province invoked the notwithstanding clause to defend the legislation against an LGBT activist group.
“It’s good we asked for them to hear the appeal. They’re going to hear it. So, we’ll see what the result of that is,” Premier Scott Moe told reporters after the question period.
Saskatchewan Justice Minister Tim McLeod explained that the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause was legal and just, saying, “We’ve always contended Section 33 doesn’t trample on rights.”
“It’s there as a democratic right. It’s not there for judicial interpretation. It’s there for democratic use,” he continued.
In 2023, Saskatchewan passed the “Parental Inclusion and Consent Policies,” which include provisions that ensure parents are allowed to opt their kids out of sex-ed and that third-party presentations from groups such as Planned Parenthood will be prohibited from taking place. It also requires parental consent for children to go by different pronouns at school.
Shortly after the bill was passed, it was challenged by LGBT activist group “UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity” at the University of Regina, represented by Egale Canada.
When the judge ruled in favor of the LGBT group, Moe announced in response that he would invoke his government’s notwithstanding clause to protect the legislation from the courts.
This triggered further legal action from the LGBT group, which agued against the use of the notwithstanding clause.
In August, Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled 4-1 to allow the appeal by LGBT activists to proceed through the court system but did not block the law from taking effect.
Now, both the province, which is seeking to dismiss the case entirely, and UR Pride have applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. While the case has been approved, the court has not provided a date for the hearing.
At the same time, recent surveys have shown that Moe is acting with the support of Saskatchewan parents by introducing legislation protecting school children from LGBT propaganda.
According to an August 2023 survey, 86 percent of Saskatchewan participants advocated for parental rights, supporting the province’s new approach to the LGBT agenda in schools.
Furthermore, more than 40,000 Canadians have pledged their support for Saskatchewan’s fight for parental rights in the classroom, also calling on all other provinces to follow suit.
Additionally, a Saskatchewan teacher wishing to remain anonymous previously told LifeSiteNews that she feels guilty about keeping secrets from parents and supports the decision to keep parents informed.
“I fear that we are not supporting students or parents when we keep secrets,” she explained. “We have many students using alternate names, which sometimes changes frequently during the year, and then are asked by parents if we were aware of the changes after the fact. I feel responsible for keeping the secret and I don’t think it’s fair. I think schools are already taking on too many ‘parent roles’ and it’s important that parents play the ‘parent role,’ not teachers!”
