Pronoun bill opponents decry lack of consultation

With just a few more hours left before debate finishes on the pronoun legislation in Saskatchewan, opposition to the bill wasn’t finished Thursday morning.

A group of Indigenous leaders and teens watched from the gallery as MLAs once again argued over the policy in the Assembly.

Tyler George, Saskatchewan’s two-spirit representative to the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and a headperson with the Ochapowace First Nation, said the government hadn’t reached out to the two-spirit community or First Nations groups like the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) or AFN to consult on the bill.

“(Government members) continue to say, ‘We’ve consulted tens of thousands of people, of parents,’ but you’re not consulting people who this actually affects,” said George.

He said there is a national council for two-spirit people and a Saskatchewan two-spirit alliance, both of which could have been consulted.

“We have inherent rights. Inherent rights from our knowledge keepers (and) our elders are things that we are born with (and make us) the person we are born to be. Creator gave us those inherent rights. What this policy does is it violates our human right to self-determination,” he explained.

George said Indigenous people don’t have a good history with education in this province and something like this legislation affects their kids.

“Our children, our youth, we want the protection of them within our education systems. They’re a vulnerable group already. Our two-spirit people are vulnerable groups,” he said.

George said the government keeps saying the policy is about parents being more involved in education, but he said the legislation has nothing to do with education. Instead, it’s about policing gender identity.

George and the others listened to what was being said in the Assembly on Thursday morning. He said it worries him the way the provincial government is operating.

“(It’s worrisome) as an elected leader for my nation and seeing the way that these elected leaders are operating. We’re there to promote unity, to be inclusive (and) to push diversity and these people — our MLAs — aren’t. I feel the Saskatchewan Party is dividing us even more,” said George.

“I’m tired of being told I’m not right. I’m tired of being told I don’t matter. I’m tired and I don’t want our kids to ever have to face that.”

When Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre was asked if the government consulted with any expert groups or groups representing transgender people when developing this policy, she didn’t specifically say yes or no. Instead, she spoke about the parents who talked to the government and the process of creating legislation.

“As with any government policy and the way it’s formulated, there are conversations, there are consultations, there is listening, there is debating (and) there is balancing and this is no exception,” said Eyre.

The minister also said it’s important to not be overly divisive about which groups have which views.

“This has always been about the parents. It’s about listening to them and, as I say, about restoring the honourable relationship between school and home,” explained Eyre.

During committee on Thursday afternoon, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill was asked several times what expert groups the ministry consulted. In response, Cockrill talked about conversations MLAs have had with people in places like grocery stores and hockey rinks.

“The people that have been consulted on this bill are the experts in children’s lives, and that is Saskatchewan parents,” said Cockrill.

Experts have been speaking out about the policy and legislation since they were announced.

A judge granted an injunction on the implementation, using some strong words to talk about the policy itself, and the province’s children’s advocate examined the policy and said it would be discriminatory to trans children.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission also is urging the government to reconsider the bill.

Saying it’s “never too late for sober second thought,” the commission issued a statement Thursday calling on the provincial government to “slow down and reconsider the legislation and the effect that it may have on vulnerable youth in the province.”

Earlier this week, Heather Kuttai — one of Saskatchewan’s six human rights commissioners — resigned her post in opposition to the proposed legislation.

According to the commission, the proposed legislation infringes on the rights of Saskatchewan students.

“The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission is willing and eager to consult with the Saskatchewan Government on this and any issue affecting the human rights of people in Saskatchewan,” the commission added.