(Regina) As they return to the legislature, Saskatchewan politicians are bracing for a fight over student pronouns in schools. A confrontation which, according to some political observers, could modify the electoral landscape of the province.
Parliamentary proceedings are set to resume Tuesday, with the Saskatchewan Party government planning to introduce legislation that would require parental consent when children under 16 want to use different names and pronouns at school.
Prime Minister Scott Moe announced his intention to invoke the notwithstanding clause, which allows governments to derogate from certain rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a period of up to five years.
NDP Opposition Leader Carla Beck said her team was ready to debate the issue with government officials.
“If they want to talk about education, we are ready to talk about it,” said M.me Beck in a recent interview. We are ready to debate their record, which has frankly failed the children of this province for over a decade. »
A “Rally for Our Rights” demonstration is planned in front of Parliament on the day the politicians return.
In late September, a judge granted an injunction and suspended the policy. Lawyers for UR Pride, a local Regina LGBTQ group that sought the injunction, argued the policy could lead to teachers revealing gender identity to parents against the child’s wishes or misgendering a student and thus violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
NDP MP Nathaniel Teed suggested his party could be obstructive.
He said on social media that he and other NDP MPs planned to read letters sent on behalf of those affected by the policy and the “attack on Charter rights” during the debate.
Moe said Saskatchewan Party members would ultimately make the decision to legislate policy because they represent diverse constituents who have expressed concerns.
He added that parents should be informed about their children’s information at school.
“This is a very common discussion in my community. I was at home last night and three people approached me in front of the grocery store,” Mr. Moe told reporters last week.
“So there are people reaching out not only to myself as the local MP, but also to other MPs, and have been doing so for some time. Most, if not all, are parents, have been parents or grandparents,” said the Prime Minister.
Mme Beck acknowledged that children do better when parents are involved, but that the new pronoun policy won’t make things better. She called the use of the override provision “harsh.”
“Being willing to make vulnerable children even more vulnerable is not the kind of leadership many people want to see from the government,” she said.
Listening to the electorate
As the debate plays out in the Legislature, political observers say they will be watching closely to see if it moves the electorate.
Daniel Westlake, a political science professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said two outcomes are possible.
In a first scenario, he says, politics could work in the government’s favor. If this resonates widely, it could help consolidate more right-wing voters into the government’s base.
In the second scenario, the problem could make the government tilt too far to the right. This could encourage some moderate voters to consider alternatives, such as the NDP, says Mr. Westlake.
“Something like the use of the notwithstanding clause may cause people to view this as a Charter issue,” he said.
“Moderate voters might say, ‘I’m not sure I’m comfortable with a party willing to violate Charter rights, even though I don’t have a strong opinion on pronoun policy in particular,” he added.
David Rayside, a retired University of Toronto politics professor, said center-right parties sometimes fear losing votes to the far right.
In an August by-election, the United Conservative Party of Saskatchewan, which claims to support parental rights, received 23 per cent of the vote, appearing to undermine the Saskatchewan Party’s base. The Saskatchewan Party won the by-election with 54%.
According to Mr. Rayside, it appears that conservative governments in Canada are monitoring gender debates in the United States, where some Republicans have introduced rules on pronouns in schools and limited sex education.
New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative government has a pronoun policy similar to Saskatchewan’s, although school guidance counselors can use the names children choose.
Mr Rayside said people are generally more ambivalent about transgender pronouns and rights and feel general anxiety about the role of parents in schools.
“Politicians on the right know this, or at least have learned it, and are willing to follow them without really, in my opinion, thinking about the broader issue of risks to children,” Mr Rayside said.
Federal Conservative Party delegates at a convention in September voted to ban “medical or surgical interventions” for gender diverse and transgender children. Leader Pierre Poilievre said he was not required to include these policies in a potential election platform.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her caucus is discussing pronouns in schools, but has not made a decision.
Mr. Rayside was unsure how the debate would play out electorally in Saskatchewan, noting that voters tend to lean Conservative. However, he said he expects the NDP to make its case to centrist voters.
Mme Beck said people want leaders who solve problems with solutions they can get behind.
“It’s one thing to have differences, but to see some politicians willingly fueling that division for their own political purposes, I think, is beyond disappointing to people,” she said.