Court grants 11 intervener applications, dismisses one in Bill 137 appeal

Eleven applications for intervener status in the Saskatchewan government’s appeal of a constitutional challenge against its pronoun consent law (Bill 137) have been granted.

The lone application to be dismissed was made by Our Duty Canada (ODC), self-described as “a network for parents of children and adolescents captured by gender ideation.”

The written decision, signed by Chief Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Robert Leurer, as well as by Justices Neal Caldwell and Lian Schwann, was released Friday, less than two days after they heard from the applicants. It outlines several reasons to deny ODC its request for intervener status, including that it says nothing about the organization’s interest in the constitutional issues raised by the province in the appeal.

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“At best, ODC would offer no perspective on the constitutional issues that are alive in this appeal that is not already before the Court,” the decision stated. “At worst, ODC’s intervention would serve to direct the Court’s time and attention to matters that will not affect the outcome of the appeal, thus causing prejudice of the parties and the judicial process more generally.”

The 11 successful applicants include the governments of New Brunswick and Alberta, both of which have adopted similar pronoun policies to Saskatchewan. The other interveners are: The Advocates’ Society, Amnesty International Canadian Section, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, Justice for Children and Youth, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund Inc., and a joint application from the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF).

At the heart of the constitutional challenge is Bill 137, commonly called the pronoun consent law, which requires students under 16 to have parent or guardian permission to use a new gender-related preferred name or set of pronouns in schools.

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UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity filed a legal challenge against the policy last year, alleging it violates sections 2, 7, 12 and 15 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Saskatchewan’s Human Rights Code. Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Megaw allowed the litigation to continue in February on the grounds of declaratory relief, prompting an appeal from the province.

The nine organizations, plus two provincial governments, outline in the application process the perspective they will bring “in connection with the issues in this appeal,” the decision noted, and several “helpfully” filed draft factums to support their applications which “offer even greater clarity of position.”

They have also assured the court that “they will not be duplicative of the parties’ arguments in their submissions.”

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“We accept those assurances from them,” read the decision. “We are persuaded therefore to grant intervener status … as their involvement will tend to assist this Court to carry out its appellate function without expanding the scope of the appeal.”

In an attempt to ensure the successful applicants will not “unduly delay the proceedings or otherwise cause prejudice to the parties,” the decision presented a number of conditions which include but are not limited to the following:

The factums must not exceed 15 pages in length and must be served on the parties and all other interveners and filed by 4 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2024; the SFL, CUPE and CTF will be treated as a single intervener and file one factum; the Saskatchewan government and UR Pride are each entitled to one factum no longer than 40 pages replying to the factums filed by the interveners and filed by 4 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2024; and the interveners “shall accept the record as it is.”

The appeal is set to be heard on Sept. 23, 2024.

— with files from Larissa Kurz and Brandon Harder

jackerman@postmedia.com

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