Moe defends recalling legislature to keep school name, pronoun policy in place

Premier Scott Moe says the push to pass his party’s pronoun policy as legislation in Saskatchewan is all about clarity.

The policy requires parental consent if kids under the age of 16 want to change the name or pronouns used at school.

On Thursday, Regina Court of King’s Bench justice Michael Megaw granted an injunction against the policy, effectively putting it on hold.

Earlier this month Lisa Broda, the Saskatchewan children’s advocate, released a report saying the policy is discriminatory and violates the rights of children.

Speaking during a news conference in Saskatoon on Friday, Moe said the policy will be introduced as law and passed when MLAs return to the legislature on October 10, two weeks earlier than planned.

“What we feel is of paramount importance is to provide clarity to parents, to families, and ultimately to school divisions and educators who are in our classrooms across the province,” the premier said.

Moe said he plans to use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to override the court’s injunction.

“There could be the collision of these Charter-protected rights and other rights that are important to Saskatchewan residents and to Canadian residents as well, and when those rights collide, the notwithstanding clause was provided to ensure the elected government of the day would be able to make the decision as to which of those rights would be in effect for the people that they ultimately represent,” Moe explained.

When asked if the new policies were unconstitutional, the premier said he doesn’t think so.

“This is providing clarity to Saskatchewan residents by saying that we’re going to go in at the earliest opportunity – which is in about a week – we’re going to go in and we’re going to introduce and ultimately pass that legislation,” he answered.

Moe was also questioned about feedback on the policies gathered by the government from parents, student or experts.

“The case hasn’t been heard yet, and so that evidence would be forthcoming,” Moe said, adding that the policy was enacted on the advice of parents who had spoken to various MLAs and educators.

Moe said he couldn’t say whether the legislation related to the policies would contain any of the recommendations included in Broda’s report.