Sask Court Says Legal Review of Pronoun Law May Proceed Despite Notwithstanding Clause

Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has ruled that a legal challenge to the province’s pronoun policy may proceed, finding that the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause does not prevent the court from assessing whether the law limits Charter rights.

Chief Justice Robert W. Leurer concluded in an Aug. 11 ruling that the Court of King’s Bench has the jurisdiction to evaluate whether the province’s pronoun law infringes on students’ Charter rights despite the province’s use of Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause. The pronoun law requires schools to have parental consent before students under 16 years of age can change their names or pronouns.