Many Saskatchewan teachers have signed a petition opposing the province's Bill 137 The Parents Bill of Rights that mandates parental consent when a student wants to use a different name or pronoun at school. However, Premier Scott Moe has no plans to repeal the law despite the opposition.READ MORE: Sask’s pronoun law to be ignored by some teachers“This is a policy about when a school will recognize a change in name or pronoun or even gender,” said Moe. “Those are decisions that the parent should be part of before a school ultimately is going to recognize any of those changes.”Moe is uncertain about the potential consequences for teachers who decide not to comply with the new law.Moe explained since the policy is now a legal requirement, it is the responsibility of the school divisions to ensure their staff members adhere to it, similar to how any other employer is expected to enforce rules within their organization.“I don’t know what those protocols are and if they differ between school divisions, but that is an inquiry that we may make at some point, but I haven’t made it yet,” said Moe.Carla Beck, the leader of the Sask NDP, holds the view the policy should be abolished entirely.Beck is questioning why the province needed to convene an emergency legislative session and employ the notwithstanding clause to implement the law when the government does not have a clear plan for enforcing and following it.“This was an ill-thought-out bill that was done without consultation,” Beck told the media. “Had they consulted, they would have understood that these issues, and I don’t think we’ve seen all of them would come to light.”
Many Saskatchewan teachers have signed a petition opposing the province's Bill 137 The Parents Bill of Rights that mandates parental consent when a student wants to use a different name or pronoun at school. However, Premier Scott Moe has no plans to repeal the law despite the opposition.READ MORE: Sask’s pronoun law to be ignored by some teachers“This is a policy about when a school will recognize a change in name or pronoun or even gender,” said Moe. “Those are decisions that the parent should be part of before a school ultimately is going to recognize any of those changes.”Moe is uncertain about the potential consequences for teachers who decide not to comply with the new law.Moe explained since the policy is now a legal requirement, it is the responsibility of the school divisions to ensure their staff members adhere to it, similar to how any other employer is expected to enforce rules within their organization.“I don’t know what those protocols are and if they differ between school divisions, but that is an inquiry that we may make at some point, but I haven’t made it yet,” said Moe.Carla Beck, the leader of the Sask NDP, holds the view the policy should be abolished entirely.Beck is questioning why the province needed to convene an emergency legislative session and employ the notwithstanding clause to implement the law when the government does not have a clear plan for enforcing and following it.“This was an ill-thought-out bill that was done without consultation,” Beck told the media. “Had they consulted, they would have understood that these issues, and I don’t think we’ve seen all of them would come to light.”
