Saskatchewan’s highest court will start hearing the appeal on Monday of an earlier ruling the province lost concerning its pronoun consent law.
Two days have been set aside for the hearing at the Court of Appeal in Regina.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights, a law passed by the provincial government last October, requires parental consent before a child under the age of 16 can use a different gender-related name or pronoun at school.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Megaw ruled on Feb. 16 that UR Pride, a 2SLGBTQ+ group in Regina, should be allowed to make its case on the constitutionality of the new pronoun rules.
That’s despite the fact that in creating the law, the province invoked the notwithstanding clause to sidestep the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In that same ruling, Megaw also allowed UR Pride to alter its legal action to target the new law, instead of the policy that preceded it, and amend the challenge to say that the law violates Section 12 of the Charter, which protects Canadians against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
The province plans to appeal both Feb. 16 decisions, asking for the challenge to be struck down, and for the amendments to be considered void.
Egale Canada, which is representing UR Pride, says the case will deal with the role the court should play once a government has decided to violate the rights of a portion of its population.
“The government of Saskatchewan is taking the position that once it uses the notwithstanding clause, the court no longer has a role, and we disagree,” said Bennett Jensen, the legal director of Egale Canada.
Saskatchewan Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre says the government will use every tool at its disposal to protect parental rights and will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
The case has generated interest across Canada. In July, the Court of Appeal granted 11 interveners status to make arguments for, or against, the Saskatchewan government’s appeal.