N.B. intervention; province seeks intervener status in SK Parents’ Bill of Rights court case

The New Brunswick legislature is seen in Fredericton in this file photo.

A move by the Higgs government to join Alberta in applying for intervener status in the Parents’ Bill of Rights case before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is being met with skepticism by at least one member of New Brunswick’s legislative assembly.

Saskatchewan’s Parents’ Bill of Rights is similar to New Brunswick’s Policy 713, which requires schools to get parental consent before a student is allowed to change their name or pronoun if under the age of 16.

PC MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason questioned the move, asking if it could be politically motivated.

“When I do consider this court case, it seems to me that it may be just another step in this plan that this government has for running its election and trying to make the ballot issue, the issue of parental rights,” Anderson-Mason told CTV News Friday evening. “Parental right is very important, but we can’t have it overshadow the important issues like healthcare and affordability.”

In a release late Friday afternoon, N.B.’s Attorney General Hugh Flemming said this is a constitutional issue about whether the notwithstanding clause is the final word when a legislature invokes it.

“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,” Flemming said in the release.

This afternoon’s announcement was made after the New Brunswick legislature wrapped up its work for this legislative session. It’s the last time MLAs are expected to sit before the Fall provincial election.

Anderson-Mason said whether New Brunswick gets involved or not, Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal will ultimately make a decision.

“I’ve got great colleagues across the country and they are going to do I’m sure their best when this matter goes to court in Saskatchewan,” she said. “We’ll be here in New Brunswick to hear the result; I don’t know that New Brunswick needs to expend its tax dollars when we’ll be privy to the results when they happen.”

CTV News reached out to the New Brunswick government to ask how much money and resources have been set aside by the province to join Alberta in applying for intervener status, but haven’t received an answer, though Justice and Public Safety Department spokesperson Sarah Bustard did say they’re looking into these questions, including a request for comment from Premier Blaine Higgs.

Back in April, Alberta announced it would intervene in a legal appeal that would prevent a judge from reviewing the constitutionality of Saskatchewan’s Parents’ Bill of Rights.

The legislation requires parental consent for students under 16 to change their names or pronouns in school.

Alberta’s Justice Minister, Mickey Amery, said he would throw his support behind the Saskatchewan government as it calls on that province’s highest court for a ruling that would put an end to an ongoing legal challenge that could deem the law unconstitutional.

Saskatchewan introduced its "Parents' Bill of Rights" last year.

The bill called for the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to override certain sections of the charter and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code to ensure parents must provide consent if a child wants to change their gender identification in school.

Premier Scott Moe vowed to invoke the notwithstanding clause that would allow the legislation to become law shortly after a Court of King’s Bench judge granted an injunction of the policy to UR Pride.

In relation to the New Brunswick government’s move to join Alberta in applying for intervener status, Anderson-Mason said she’s not particularly surprised.

“It is unfortunate that this has gotten to this point because it’s the type of analysis that should happen before laws get put in place,” she said. “I can’t speak to what’s happened in Saskatchewan, but I can speak for New Brunswick, in that we didn’t do the work up front.”

Anderson-Mason is one of 12 PC MLA’s within the Blaine Higgs’ New Brunswick government to announce she will not run in October’s provincial election.

She was also one of six PCs who voted against government and in favour of a Liberal motion on Policy 713 last spring.

Anderson-Mason was elected six years ago to represent Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West, and spent time as the province’s attorney general and justice minister.

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