Sask. fall legislature session bookended by debates over parental rights policy, protest

Saskatchewan MLAs returned to the legislature in early October to debated a controversial issue and ended the fall sitting in a similar fashion.

The tone was set even before Oct. 25, when the fall sitting was even supposed to start. The government called an emergency session to pass its parental bill of rights, which mandates that schools get parental permission before allowing a student under 16 to change their preferred pronouns. The government used the notwithstanding clause to override sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.

The province had already told schools about the rule change without legislation, but a Regina judge issued an injunction against the policy. Premier Scott Moe made the announcement that he was calling the legislature back early just hours after the ruling.

Long hours of discussion in the chamber, mostly by the Opposition, focused on the policy and the accusations that it would harm vulnerable transgender children.

"We have seen letters upon letters upon letters from teachers, youth, allies, members of the public asking this government, 'What are you doing and why are you doing this?'" Opposition MLA Nicole Sarauer said before the bill was voted on and passed. 

The government countered by saying the policy was, in Moe's words, "providing parents the right — not the opportunity — to support their children in the formative years of their life."

Last month, Moe said implementation of the policy was up to school divisions, and that he expected schools and teachers to comply with the law.

The sitting officially started with the speech from the throne five days after the parental rights bill was announced. The speech did not include the recently passed bill, but did promise to 'build and protect' the province.

It laid out the government's priorities for the fall agenda, which included the using the Saskatchewan First Act to task an Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal to compile a report on the impact of the federal government's Clean Electricity Regulations.

The speech also revealed the provincial government would head to Dubai for COP28, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Premier Moe missed the final week of the sitting to promote Saskatchewan at the conference in the United Arab Emirates.

The price tag for that trip was the subject of debate in the assembly. The government spent $765,000 on a pavilion and $238,000 on advertising. The cost to send Moe and staff to Dubai is not yet known, but with the ad and pavilion, the Opposition says the trip is likely the province's most expensive ever.

"I think it's been a great conference and an opportunity for us from not only Saskatchewan, but from Canada, to engage with, you know, about 200 countries around the world on what we're doing in industries that create wealth in our province and our nation," Moe said Wednesday from Dubai.

This fall, the government also passed legislation increasing the legal age for smoking and vaping to 19, passed a bill protecting the right for provincially regulated workers to wear poppies at work, and expanded presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters.

On Nov. 27, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer announced that Saskatchewan's latest mid-year financial update projected a $250-million deficit, an outcome that would be $1.3-billion worse than the $1-billion surplus predicted in the annual budget.