A person holds a pride flag during a Pride flag-raising ceremony in Saskatoon on Thursday, June 1, 2023. A Saskatchewan judge is hearing an injunction application that seeks to halt the province's pronoun policy affecting children at school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

By Jeremy Simes, Canadian Press

Court hears arguments over injunction for Saskatchewan’s school pronoun policy

Sep 19, 2023 | 3:08 PM

An injunction application hearing has begun over Saskatchewan’s policy that affects children who want to use different pronouns or names at school.

The new policy requires students under 16 to receive parental consent if they want to go by a different name or pronoun.

Lawyers for UR Pride, an organization representing LGBTQ people in Regina, are arguing for the injunction.

Adam Goldenberg, a lawyer representing the group, told court Tuesday that the province’s policy is discriminatory, as it results in teachers misgendering students who aren’t able to get parental consent.

Goldenberg said it also outs students, potentially putting them at risk of harm if they aren’t accepted at home.

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He said these repercussions violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including equality rights and the right to security of the person.

The policy also does not account for the mature minor doctrine, a common-law rule that gives mature children autonomy, said Goldenberg.

The province’s legal representatives had yet to speak in court.

Premier Scott Moe has said he stands by the policy and that the province will do everything in its power to protect parental rights.

The premier said he would consider using the notwithstanding clause, a provision that allows governments to override certain Charter rights for up to five years.

Michael Walter, the education ministry’s assistant deputy minister, said in an affidavit that he received 18 letters between June and August from people expressing concerns about students using chosen pronouns and names in school. The letters referenced a similar policy in New Brunswick, which was mandated before the one in Saskatchewan.

In his affidavit, Walter said the chief of staff in the education ministry told him that constituents of some legislature members were concerned.

Goldenberg described this correspondence as “weak” evidence, as the constituents and their political representatives were not identified.

“That’s at least triple hearsay,” he said. “The chief of staff told (Walter), the MLAs told him, the constituents told the MLAs that parents had concerns about something happening in schools.”

“They go from zero to a final version of the policy in nine days in August,” Goldenberg said. “This was not a thoughtful active policy creation.”

UR Pride’s lawyers said an injunction would pause the policy while a challenge makes its way through court.

Saskatchewan child advocate Lisa Broda said in a report last week that the policy violates rights to gender identity and expression.

Justice Michael Megaw, who is hearing the injunction application, granted five organizations intervener status in the case: the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, John Howard Society, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, the Gender Dysphoria Alliance and Alberta-based Parents for Choice in Education.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2023.

This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled the last name of Adam Goldenberg.