JFCY was granted intervenor status in this case where the organization UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity (UR Pride) brought a constitutional challenge against a Saskatchewan law that requires schools to obtain parental permission before using chosen names and pronouns by students who are under age 16. The Government of Saskatchewan as represented by the Minister of Education, pre-emptively invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause in its legislation (s. 33); which, if allowed to stand, would override Charter rights.
UR Pride’s challenge claims that the legislation violates the Charter rights to equality (s. 15), security of the person (s. 7), and to be free from cruel and unusual treatment (s. 12) of vulnerable and marginalized students, and seeking declaratory relief. The Government of Saskatchewan claimed that the use of the Notwithstanding clause insulates the law from any judicial review.
At the hearing before the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, in September 2024, the core issues in dispute were: 1) the availability of judicial review and declaratory relief when the Notwithstanding Clause of s. 33 of the Charter has been pre-emptively invoked in legislation; and 2) the permissibility and propriety of permitting the amendment of the pleadings by UR Pride to include a claim under s. 12 of the Charter. JFCY JFCY provided a child-rights informed analysis and argued that these issues must place children, whose interests are directly at stake, at the centre of each of the issues under consideration.
The Court of Appeal found that even when the government invokes the notwithstanding clause, the courts maintain the jurisdiction to determine violations of Charter rights. This ruling meant that the legal challenge to the pronoun law, which requires parental consent for a student under 16 to use their chosen name or pronouns at school, could proceed at the Court of King’s Bench.
However, the Government has sought an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Which means the hearing at the Court of King’s Bench will not proceed until a decision at the Supreme Court of Canada occurs. Materials have been filed and we await a hearing date.
Court of Appeal: JFCY Factum and Court of Appeal decision
Supreme Court of Canada:
- Case No 41979 – shows case information including progression of the appeal, and materials filed.
- JFCY Factum
