Saskatchewan Proposes Suspending Charter Rights of Trans Minorities for Partisan Ends
The law of unintended consequences? We were warned this would happen
On September 14 2023, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe publicly mused about invoking the “notwithstanding clause,” or Section 33, of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Why?
His conservative government instituted a new rule that requires parental permission for trans or non-binary students under age 16 to use different names or pronouns at school, and invoking Section 33 protects it against Constitutional oversight.
Section 33 is a part of the Charter that allows either federal or provincial governments to override certain rights and freedoms for any purpose in order to achieve a social goal, or prevent a direct threat to society. Any act passed under Section 33 will endure for five years, or until rescinded by the legislature that passed it.
In theory, Section 33 guards against judicial overreach and allows elected parliamentarians to carry out their duties unimpeded.
In practice, Section 33 has been used disproportionately by provincial governments to target minorities in order to impose populist agendas.
