We’re taking a bit of a break from federal legislation today to look at Saskatchewan’s Parents’ Bill of Rights. (Note that’s a pdf link, the Provincial government’s site just goes straight to that). We’re seeing this type of thing talked about around the country and it uses the Notwithstanding Clause, so it’s definitely worth looking at.
Parents’ Bill of Rights
Bill 137 gives parents the right to:
- Act as primary decision-maker for their children’s education
- Be informed of their children’s attendance, behaviour, and academic achievements
- Speak with teachers about their children’s courses and performance
- Have access to their children’s school file
- Be told what courses are available, including online options, and to make decisions on which courses their children take
- Be informed of the school’s code of conduct, administrative policies, discipline policies, and behaviour management policies
- Be informed of any disciplinary action or investigation taken by the school against their children. Note that this is already a thing.
- Request a review of the expulsion of their children a year after they’ve been expelled. Note that this is also already a thing they can do
- Be informed and consulted on attendance problems. This is also something already covered in the Education Act
- Request a review on their children’s ability to learn. Also already something parents can do
- Excuse their children from any religious opening exercises (such as the Lord’s Prayer). Already an option.
- Be consulted before any medical or dental examination provided to their children. As with the previous points, this is already a thing
- Be informed, at least two weeks in advance, of the dates and content of any sex-ed lessons and to excuse their children from those classes
- To provide consent, if their children are under 16, to allow teachers and staff to use a preferred gender-related name or gender identity for their children
- To be a member of the school’s community council
Parental Responsibilities
Bill 137 also outlines two responsibilities of parents. The first is to cooperate with school staff to ensure children are following the school’s code of conduct and policies. This includes cooperating with any disciplinary action.
The second responsibility is to take all reasonable measures to make sure their children are attending school.
Consent to Change Gender Identity
And now we get into the most controversial part of this Bill. If a child younger than 16 wants teachers or staff to refer to them by a different gender-related preferred name or gender identity those staff cannot do so until they get consent from the child’s parents.
Then, if there’s reasonable expectation that getting consent from the parent would result in the child suffering physical, mental, or emotional harm, the child will be directed to a school staff member who will help develop a plan to reach out to their parents so the school can get consent for the new gender identity.
The Notwithstanding Clause
Now as I’m sure everyone’s aware by now the last bit has the potential to run against people’s Charter Rights, so the Notwithstanding Clause has been used to suspend those Rights. Note that using the Notwithstanding Clause requires the Bill to designate which Rights are being suspended, in this case it’s:
- The freedom of conscience and religion
- The freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication
- The freedom of peaceful assembly
- The freedom of association
- The right to life, liberty, and security
- The right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination, in particular based on race, national/ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental/physical disability
The Notwithstanding Clause is also being used to suspend certain Rights from The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, specifically:
- The freedom of conscience, opinion, and belief
- The freedom of religious association, teaching, practice, and worship
- The freedom of expression through all means of communication, including the arts, speech, or any form of broadcasting
- he right to education in any school, college, university, or similar program (such as an apprenticeship) without discrimination (except for age)
Lawsuits for Loss or Damages
Finally Bill 137 includes legal protections for certain people against any lawsuits that might be brought against them for losses or damages caused by this Bill. (So if a child is harmed as a result of the school informing their parents of any potential name change requests, no lawsuits can be brought against these people) The people protected by this are:
- The provincial government
- A member or former member of the Executive Council
- A board of education, SDLC, registered independent school, etc
- Any provincial or school employee
This part should definitely be concerning, as including it means they know children will be harmed and that a lawsuit is going to result from it.
Closing
This Bill should definitely be a concern for everyone. Using the Notwithstanding Clause is bad enough, but it includes a “If we think a child will be harmed by this we’re going to do it anyway” clause as well as a “If we’re right and a child is harmed by this you can’t sue us for it” clause.
I’ll be keeping a bit of an eye on this one, but don’t expect too much as far as updates on it. Main reason I wanted to cover it is because anything that uses the Notwithstanding Clause is definitely a national interest as it goes against our Rights and sets the precedent for other provinces to follow suit.
Discover more from Commons Sense
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.