Moe intends to turn pronoun, sex ed policies into law in Sask.

Controversy has been brewing in Saskatchewan since the provincial government announced three new education policies around sexual education and pronoun changes.

Now, Premier Scott Moe said he intends to move them from just policies into law.

In an exclusive interview, Moe explained that’s the parental rights legislation coming down this fall that he teased at his premier’s dinner earlier this month.

“We will be introducing legislation to ensure that we take away any ambiguity around just how serious the government is on ensuring that school divisions are implementing the policies that Minister (Dustin) Duncan put forward and now Minister (Jeremy) Cockrill is communicating to the school divisions,” Moe said Tuesday morning.

The premier said his government will use all the tools available to make sure the policy will be enacted in the province.

“We think it’s just a simple set of inclusionary guidelines that are going to make for a more responsive education system, and ultimately a higher-functioning education system as well,” he explained.

Nearly two weeks after the school year started in Saskatchewan with the new policies in place, there are still many people in the province against them, arguing it will hurt gender-diverse children and create problems with teaching about abuse and the province’s already-high STI rates.

But Moe continues to defend the policies, saying his government feels parents have a right to be involved in their child’s school, classroom and education.

“This is a policy that is focused on including parents in their classroom and we don’t feel that the first thought should be, in any way, that the parents aren’t excluded in what is happening in their child’s life,” said Moe.

When asked about where the children come into these policies, Moe said simply that children are a part of their families.

“When you have families closer to our children’s education it makes for a much more responsive and, I think, valuable education system in the province,” said Moe.

There are some critics of the policies who believe that, when creating education policies, what’s best for the children should be the first consideration. In response, Moe said those same critics are saying that parents aren’t there to support their children, and he disagrees with that.

“We believe, most certainly, that parents are there to support their children and the first instinct of our schools and our education system should not be to withhold information from the very parents that are intent on raising that child,” said Moe.

The notwithstanding clause

Moe didn’t mention it as a reason, but if and when the education policies are enshrined in law, the notwithstanding clause would come into play.

If invoked, Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – or the notwithstanding clause – would allow the provincial government to continue on with the law even if it were found by a court that the law and policies violated particular sections of the Charter – fundamental rights in Section 2, legal rights in Sections 7-14, and equality rights in Section 15.

At least one legal challenge is moving through the courts now, with UR Pride claiming the policies violate the Charter.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Government of Saskatchewan introduced legislation to invoke the notwithstanding clause around an education issue. In 2017, the province used it to allow itself to continue public funding for both public and separate school divisions.