Judge to hear arguments in injunction application against Sask.'s parental consent policy

A hearing for the injunction application filed against the Government of Saskatchewan’s parental inclusion and consent policy is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Regina’s Court of King’s Bench.

A hearing for the injunction application filed against the Government of Saskatchewan’s parental inclusion and consent policy is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Regina’s Court of King’s Bench.

UR Pride, co-represented by Egale Canada and McCarthy Tétrault LLP, is challenging the constitutionality of the new policy, which requires teachers to obtain parental consent for any student under the age of 16 to change their preferred name or pronouns in school.

Adam Goldenberg, a partner with McCarthy Tétrault and co-representative for UR Pride, argues the new policy discriminates against gender-diverse children, and forces teachers to misgender students and potentially “out” kids to their parents.

“Expert evidence that we’ve filed shows that that is harmful and that causes permanent, irreparable harm to students to deny them that safe, respectful and accepting interaction with a trusted adult in the school learning environment,” Goldenberg said.

UR Pride’s main argument centres on what it believes are violations of two sections in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to Goldenberg, the policy violates Section 7 and Section 15, which relate to personal security and equality, respectively.

UR Pride’s legal representatives are seeking an injunction that would prevent the policy from being implemented until a judge can decide if the policy is constitutional.