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Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Allows UR Pride Challenge to Proceed on Pronoun Policy

The decision sends UR Pride’s Charter challenges to the Court of King’s Bench for further litigation.

People hold signs while attending a rally against the Saskatchewan government's proposed legislation on pronoun policy in front of the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
Students across the City of Regina walked out of school in October 2023, gathering at the provincial legislature to protest the Saskatchewan government's controversial pronoun policy.
Saskatchewan's highest court has ruled a lower court has jurisdiction to determine whether Saskatchewan's pronoun consent law violates constitutional rights.

Overview

  • On August 11, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that the legal challenge to the province’s 2023 pronoun policy must continue at the Court of King’s Bench.
  • The ruling authorizes UR Pride to pursue claims under Section 7’s life, liberty and security protections, Section 15(1)’s equality rights and to seek a Section 12 declaration.
  • Justices struck the portion of UR Pride’s application that sought a wholesale declaration of the policy’s unconstitutionality.
  • The policy requires students under 16 to obtain parental consent before using a chosen name or pronoun at school, a measure UR Pride argues risks outing vulnerable youth.
  • The next stage at the Court of King’s Bench will focus on the merits of UR Pride’s Charter claims and examine questions of youth safety and parental authority.