As Canada’s highest court prepares to hear an appeal in a Saskatchewan case involving the use of preferred pronouns by students in schools, dozens of parties have lined up to have their legal perspectives heard. As of Monday, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) website lists 28 such parties — known in legal terms as interveners — who have something to say about the case between the Government of Saskatchewan and the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. The case dates back to August of 2023 when UR Pride took the Saskatchewan government to court over what was then a policy, arguing it was unconstitutional.
The policy was later replaced by a law known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights (PBR), or Bill 137. It requires students under the age of 16 to obtain parental or guardian consent for school staff to “use the pupil’s new gender-related preferred name or gender identity.” The Saskatchewan government utilized what’s known as the notwithstanding clause to allow the law to stand regardless of whether it violates certain sections within Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In a 4-1 split decision last August , the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal concluded, among other things, that a judge can still consider whether the law violates rights despite the government’s employment of the notwithstanding clause.
This ruling, which allows the case against the government’s law to proceed, is what’s being appealed at the SCC. The Saskatchewan government and UR Pride are the main parties. The following is a list of interveners who wish to provide the nation’s highest court with their own positions on the legal issues at play: Attorney General of Canada Attorney General of Ontario Attorney General of Quebec Attorney General of Manitoba Attorney General of British Columbia Attorney General of Alberta Public Interest Litigation Institute Advocates’ Society Alberta Teachers’ Association British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Women’s Legal Education and Action Funds Inc.
Centre for Free Expression Federation of Ontario Law Associations Canadian Bar Association Canadian Civil Liberties Association Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Canadian Union of Public Employees and Canadian Teachers’ Federation Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights Clinique juridique Juritrans Amnesty International Canadian Section South Asian Bar Association Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association Canadian Medical Association Defence for Children International — Canada West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund Association Start Proud Justice for Children and Youth International Commission of Jurists (Canada) As of yet, no hearing date has been posted on the SCC website.
