{"id":24177,"date":"2024-09-23T11:55:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T15:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?post_type=news&p=24177"},"modified":"2024-09-23T11:55:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T15:55:55","slug":"leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF intervenes at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on the impact of the notwithstanding clause on trans and non-binary youth\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 23, 2024 –<\/strong> Tomorrow, the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) will be going to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan to make submissions in Saskatchewan (Minister of Education) v. UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity<\/em>. This is a case about what courts can and cannot say concerning a law once the notwithstanding clause has been invoked.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, a Saskatchewan Court of King\u2019s Bench judge decided that even though the provincial government used the notwithstanding clause<\/a> to protect its pronoun law from being found unconstitutional, a court can still declare that the law violates Charter <\/em>rights.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the notwithstanding clause allows rights-infringing laws to remain in effect, a simple declaration of violation of rights wouldn\u2019t be enough to strike down the law. Even so, the judge found that courts can still make that declaration. Today and tomorrow, the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan will hear an appeal from that judge\u2019s decision.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, the notwithstanding clause is shielding\u202fSaskatchewan\u2019s pronoun law, which requires parental consent for school personnel to be permitted to refer to a trans, non-binary, or gender-diverse student under the age of 16 by their proper name and pronouns.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity is challenging the law, claiming that it violates trans and non-binary students\u2019 rights to security of the person and equality, as well as their right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual treatment. LEAF is also intervening in that challenge<\/a>.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its submission to the Court of Appeal, LEAF is arguing that a court declaration in this case would serve to publicly recognize the lived experiences of youth whose rights are being infringed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCourts play a vital role in recognizing experiences of discrimination,\u201d said Pam Hrick, Executive Director & General Counsel of LEAF. \u201cIn a public context where transgender youth are not believed to be credible narrators of their own identities and experiences of discrimination, it is even more necessary that courts publicly recognize their lived experiences.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judicial recognition of discrimination is also important as a way to inform the general public that a law is discriminatory. The intended counterweight to the immense power of the notwithstanding clause is the ballot box \u2013 the idea being that if the public disapproves of the government\u2019s use of the clause, it can vote that government out at the next election. In order to decide how to vote, the public must have access to a rigorous analysis of the law\u2019s impact on rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF will also warn the courts tomorrow that the problem of the notwithstanding clause is not going away.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn an ideal world, the rights that we\u2019ve won would not be taken away,\u201d said Hrick. \u201cUnfortunately, we know that this is not the case. With governments\u2019 increased use of the notwithstanding clause, women and gender-diverse people face a serious risk of our hard-fought rights being legislated away. Courts need to be there to ensure that the public is informed of these types of government action.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hearing is at the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, September 23 and 24.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF is grateful to Morgan Camley and Kay Scorer of Dentons Canada LLP, counsel to LEAF in this case.\u202fLEAF is also grateful to Barton Soroka of Gerrand Rath Johnson LLP, agent for LEAF in this case.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF\u2019s interventions are guided, informed, and supported by a case committee with expertise in the relevant issues. We are grateful to this intervention\u2019s case committee members (in alphabetical order): Florence Ashley, Jamie Cameron, Jennifer Koshan, Robert Leckey, Samuel Singer, and Xue Xu.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For media inquiries, please contact:<\/strong>\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pam Hrick<\/strong>\u00a0
Executive Director & General Counsel, LEAF\u00a0
416-595-7170 ext. 2002\u00a0
media@leaf.ca<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)\u202f<\/strong>\u202f\u202f 
The Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national not-for-profit that works to advance the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation, law reform, and public legal education. Since 1985, LEAF has intervened in more than 130 cases that have helped shape the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To find out more, visit www.leaf.ca.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24177","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLEAF intervenes at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on the impact of the notwithstanding clause on trans and non-binary youth\u00a0 - LEAF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEAF intervenes at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on the impact of the notwithstanding clause on trans and non-binary youth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this case about what courts can and can't say about a law once the notwithstanding clause has been invoked, LEAF is arguing that a court declaration on Saskatchewan's pronoun law would serve to publicly recognize the lived experiences of youth whose rights are being infringed.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-23T15:55:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/iStock-1578169037.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"836\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"LEAF intervenes at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on the impact of the notwithstanding clause on trans and non-binary youth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In this case about what courts can and can't say about a law once the notwithstanding clause has been invoked, LEAF is arguing that a court declaration on Saskatchewan's pronoun law would serve to publicly recognize the lived experiences of youth whose rights are being infringed.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/iStock-1578169037.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-intervenes-at-the-saskatchewan-court-of-appeal-on-the-impact-of-the-notwithstanding-clause-on-trans-and-non-binary-youth\/\",\"name\":\"LEAF intervenes at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on the impact of the notwithstanding clause on trans and non-binary youth\u00a0 - 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