‘Sore loser:’ CCLA slams Sask. government over notwithstanding clause

The provincial government continues to receive backlash for its naming and pronoun policy as well as its announced use of the notwithstanding clause.

Harini Sivalingam, equality director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said she was “shocked” and “dismayed” to hear about Moe’s decision.

“Governments should not be invoking the notwithstanding clause recklessly,” Sivalingam said.

The notwithstanding clause allows governments to override certain Canadian Charter Rights and Freedoms.

On Thursday, Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Megaw granted an injunction that would put the naming and pronoun policy on pause until the court can hear arguments on its constitutionality.

Later that day, Premier Scott Moe announced he would be recall the Legislative Assembly early pass the name and pronoun policy into law.

“Our reaction is that the Saskatchewan government is being a sore loser after its loss in court,” Sivalingam said.

“The government knows it’s violating the constitutional rights of students in the province and instead of letting the issue be addressed by the court it’s resorting to using the notwithstanding clause to insulate its unconstitutional policy from being reviewed by the court.”

The injunction was brought forth by University of Regina-based 2SLGBTQIA+ non-profit, UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, along with national advocacy organization Egale Canada.

The two organizations had initially threatened the province with legal action in August.

Sivalingam praised Justice Megaw’s decision.

“It was a great decision that recognized the irreparable harm that this policy would have on trans and gender-diverse students in the province,” she said.

“We’re happy to see the court agreed the harms to the students significantly outweighed any of the government’s rationales for instituting this policy that blatantly violates the rights of students in Saskatchewan.”

Sivalingam expressed concern about the safety of students in the province.

“So far with the injunction in place, at least students will be reassured that their rights and dignity will be respected in schools and continue to be respected in schools,” she said. “However, if the government does recall the legislature in an attempt to enact this legislation with the notwithstanding clause it’s going to have a significant impact on students because they’ll be back to square one.”

“We’d have to see what legal measures can we take to protect the rights of students if the notwithstanding clause is invoked.”

Sivalingam said parents have an unequivocal role in the upbringing of their children, but laws and policies should not violate the rights of young people.

The CCLA has also filed a lawsuit against New Brunswick for a similar policy that was implemented in June.

“It’s alarming to see this rise in anti-trans (sentiment) and gender-diverse students being targeted by these kinds of policies in a misguided attempt to polarize and further divide communities in Canada,” she said.