Sask. human rights commission denounces 'disappointing' school pronoun legislation

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has come out against proposed legislation that would force schools to alert parents if youth want to be referred to by a different pronoun or name.

"People on both sides of the debate look to protect children. The disagreement lies in how best to do that," a news release from the commission said.

"Rather than proceeding with the proposed legislation, we encourage the Government to work with the Commission to find middle ground through consultation."

The Saskatchewan Party government introduced its "Parents Bill of Rights" last week after recalling the legislature early specifically to rush the bill into law following a court-ordered injunction to put the policy on hold temporarily. The new pronoun rules would apply to youth under 16.

The commission calls the proposed legislation "disappointing," particularly taking issue with the government's plan to invoke the federal notwithstanding clause to automatically shield the legislation from legal challenges for the next five years.

"The 'pronoun' provisions presented to the Legislature infringe upon the rights of Saskatchewan students and the Commission urges the Saskatchewan Government to slow down and reconsider the legislation and the effect that it may have on vulnerable youth in our province," the commission said.

"The [Sasktchewan Human Rights Code] protects the human rights of all Saskatchewan residents, not just those over the age of 18. It applies to all residents of Saskatchewan equally and does not single out the parent/child relationship."

The commission received a number of complaints about the pronoun rules prior to the injunction, according to Chief Commissioner Barrie Wilcox, but he says the use of the notwithstanding clause renders it unable to investigate the complaints and enforce violations of the human rights code it finds.

“There are complaints in our system and our restriction on being able to enforce the provisions of the code because of the notwithstanding clause does not affect our ability to do a systemic review of those provisions and provide our perspective,” Wilcox told CTV News.

Heather Kuttai, who had served on the commission for nine years, resigned earlier this week in protest of the proposed legislation.

• Get the CTV News app for Saskatchewan breaking news alerts and top stories 

A marathon debate has been underway in the Saskatchewan legislature this week with members of the opposition NDP speaking for hours at a time in an attempt to stall the legislation.

The school pronoun policy was first announced in August after the upstart Saskatchewan United Party carved out a significant slice of the vote during a byelection in a Saskatchewan Party stronghold.

Saskatchewan United campaigned on the controversy sparked by a Planned Parenthood sexual health resource that was provided to Grade 9 students in the town of Lumsden.

-With files from Rory MacLean