Almost 4,000 parents, joined by Canada’s national pro-life and pro-family organization, Campaign Life Coalition, are urging Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to stand by his commitment to safeguard the province’s pro-parental rights education policy – and even use the Notwithstanding Clause if necessary.
Moe’s policy, following New Brunswick Premier Higgs’, mandates teachers get parental consent for children under 16 wishing to change their name or pronouns.
The policy has ignited a firestorm among certain LGBT activist groups, including a lawsuit led by a federally-funded activist group against Moe’s government.
To which, the Campaign Life Coalition has urged Premier Moe to use the Notwithstanding Clause should the lawsuit not go his way.
“The Notwithstanding Clause exists precisely for this kind of situation so that provinces have the power to override activist judges who attempt to interfere with the constitutional rights of provinces,” said Louis Roth, the Saskatchewan branch President of Campaign Life Coalition.
“I urge the Premier to use Section 33 of the Charter to defend the interests of parents in Saskatchewan, just as Ontario and Quebec have done in the past,” he added.
The Notwithstanding Clause, found in Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, would grant the Saskatchewan government the power to override any ruling that threatens the pro-parental policy’s existence.
Egale Canada, the group behind the lawsuit against Moe’s government, claims that the policy, as well as the pending legislation that Moe has said will be immediately put forward this fall, violates the rights of gender-diverse students under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Premier Moe has firmly stated that he is “not backing down,” in spite of the lawsuit.
