New Brunswick applying for intervener status in Bill 137 court case

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New Brunswick’s attorney general says the maritime province is applying for intervener status in the Saskatchewan government’s appeal of a constitutionality challenge against its pronoun consent law.

Using the notwithstanding clause, the Saskatchewan Party passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, or Bill 137, in October 2023. The new law mandates children under 16 obtain parental or guardian consent for school staff to “use the pupil’s new gender-related preferred name or gender identity.”

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The UR Pride Centre for Diversity and Sexuality took legal action against what started as a policy in August, and then amended that legal action in December 2023 to target the new law instead, arguing it violates the Charter rights of 2SLGBTQ+ youth.

“We believe in the principles of law,” New Brunswick Attorney General Hugh J. Flemming said in a news release issued Friday afternoon.

“We believe that legislative assemblies have the right to make laws that are important to the people of their province, and that they have the right to protect those laws through the use of the notwithstanding clause, if necessary.”

The New Brunswick government has sent a letter to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to inform the court of its intension to apply before the July deadline, the release said.

New Brunswick introduced its own education policy last year that directs schools to seek parental permission to use a students’ preferred pronouns. It was the first province in Canada to do so.

Friday’s announcement comes nearly a month after the Government of Alberta revealed its own intention to apply for intervener status.

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A day later, Saskatchewan Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre and her Alberta counterpart Mickey Amery released a joint statement which said parental consent to change a student’s preferred pronouns at school “ensures the parent-child relationship is respected and paramount.”

“Saskatchewan and Alberta agree that the ultimate authority figures in children’s lives are their parents,” said the statement released in early April. “Our provinces are both committed to supporting families and kids so they can work through their child’s unique needs together.”

In February, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced proposed policy changes that would block transgender athletes from competing against women and girls, citing “unfair disadvantages.”

Smith has also said she intends to introduce gender policy legislation that mirrors Saskatchewan’s, but with the addition of restrictions on health-care access to gender-affirming surgery and hormone treatment for minors.

Speaking in April, Prince Albert Pride executive director Chelsea Bleau said they worried that Alberta’s solidarity with Saskatchewan would lead the province on a path to toward more extreme policies.

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