With school pronoun legislation passed, Sask. government rescinds original policy directive

Having passed legislation enshrining its rules on pronouns in schools, the Saskatchewan government has rescinded the original policy directive meant to enact those rules, in a move that could bring an end to a court case around the directive.

In August, the province directed schools to require parental consent for any student under 16 wishing to change their pronouns or gendered name.

Lawyers for UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity sought an injunction against the policy, arguing itcould cause teachers to out or misgender children and that it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After a hearing, Justice Michael Megaw atRegina's Court of King's Bench granted an injunction, pausing the policy's implementation pending a full hearing. Megaw said the policy could cause "irreparable harm."

The provincial government went on to pass itsParents' Bill of Rights putting the rules in place and invoking the notwithstanding clause to protect them from constitutional challenges last week.Saskatchewan's Ministry of Education said in an email Wednesday that the passage of that bill, which contains similar provisions as the policy, means the policy was no longer necessary.

On Tuesday, Megaw was in the process of hearing a third-party plea for an intervenor status in the lawsuit over the original policy. Court documents show that, before the bench could proceed on that, the government's counsel notified the court that the policy had beenrescinded on Monday.

"Counsel for the Government has risen to indicate that legislative events have perhaps overtaken this litigation as it presently exists," Megaw said.

"That leads to a representation from the Government that there will be an application to be made, in my words not counsel's words, to dismiss the originating application as it is presently constituted."

Egale Canada, a national LGBTQ advocacy organization, is UR Pride's co-legal counsel in the litigation. Bennett Jensen, the director of legal for Egale, said despite the government's attempts to rescind the underlying policy, the legal fight is far from over.

"We are not done. We still believe that what they have passed into legislation is constitutionally problematic and that it violates the constitutional rights of gender diverse students in the province, and we will do everything we can to make that argument before the courts," he said.

Jensen said there are provisions to make sure the case can advance, even with the government terminating the original policy that is the basis of the court case.

"What we've also said to the court is that we are committed to continuing this litigation and that includes challenging the legislation as passed. So our case will not be limited to the policy."

LISTEN | Sask. human rights commissioner resigns, calls pronoun policy 'an attack' on gender-diverse kids:

The Morning Edition - Sask8:36Sask. human rights commissioner resigns, calls pronoun policy 'an attack' on gender-diverse kids

A commissioner with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has resigned. She says she will not be part of taking away the rights of children, particularly vulnerable children. We find out why the government's pronoun policy in schools felt personal to her - and why she's taking a stand against it.

Milad Alishahi, a partner with the firm MLT Aikins, which is representing the Saskatchewan government in the matter, relayed the government's latest stance to the court on Tuesday. Alishahi declined to comment on the case.

Megawsaid in courtthat thepolicy being rescinded didalter the nature of the case.

"I accept on the basis of the submissions made that the litigation as it is presently constituted is not the litigation which will proceed or not proceed depending on the outcome of the applications," he said.

Megaw setDec. 1 as the next date to hear arguments onany applications brought forth by the government or UR Pride.