“Parents’ Bill of Rights” Introduced In Legislature

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill has introduced the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” in the Saskatchewan Legislature.

The bill outlines a number of rights that parents have to be involved in their children’s education and invokes the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to ensure parents must provide consent if a child wants to change their gender identification in school.

“Parents should always be involved in important decisions involving their children,” Cockrill said. “The Parental Inclusion and Consent policy introduced in August and now this new legislation we are introducing today will ensure that continues to be the case.”

The legislation introduced today invokes section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to entrench in law key elements of the parental inclusion and consent policies announced on August 22, 2023.  This legislation is in response to the recent Court of King’s Bench approval of an injunction that calls for a pause of the policy.

“This legislation provides clarity that the policy will remain in place,” Cockrill said.  

The Parents’ Bill of Rights outlines a number of different rights that parents have regarding their children’s education, including:

• act as the primary decision-maker with respect to the pupil’s education;
• be informed on a regular basis of the pupil’s attendance, behaviour and academic achievement in school;
• consult with the pupil’s teachers and other employees of the school with respect to the pupil’s courses of study and academic achievement;
• have access to the pupil’s school file;
• receive information respecting the courses of study available to the pupil, including online learning, and to make decisions as to which courses of study the pupil enrolls in;
• be informed of the code of conduct and administrative policies, including discipline and behaviour management policies, of the school;
• be informed of any disciplinary action or investigation taken by the school in relation to the pupil’s conduct;
• if the pupil has been expelled from school, request a review and reconsideration of the expulsion after the expiration of one year;
• be informed and consulted in relation to the pupil’s school attendance problems;
• be consulted in or request a review in relation to the pupil’s capacity to learn;
• excuse the pupil from participating in the opening exercises;
• be consulted before any medical or dental examination or treatment is provided to the pupil;
• if sexual health content is to be presented to pupils in the school:
  • at least two weeks before the sexual health content is presented to the pupils, be informed by the principal of:
    • the subject matter of the sexual health content;
    • the dates on which the sexual health content is to be presented to the pupils; and
    • if the parent or guardian so chooses, withdraw the pupil from the presentation of the sexual health content by giving written notice to the principal;
• if the pupil is under 16 years of age, provide consent before the pupil’s teachers and other employees of the school use the pupil’s new gender-related preferred name or gender identity at school; and
• be a member of the school community council or the conseil d’école, as the case may be, of the school.

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