Poll suggests respondents divided on Sask. government's school pronoun policy

A new poll is out on the Saskatchewan government's school pronoun policy.

It suggests Saskatchewan respondents are divided on the issue of mandatory parental notification if a child wants to change their gender or pronoun at school. While 45 per cent support mandatory notification, 55 per cent say it should be left to teachers' discretion. Nationally, the ratio was 49 per cent support for mandatory notification and 51 per cent against.

The poll, commissioned by LGBTQ2S advocacy group Egale Canada and conducted by spark*insights, drew from an online survey of 1,300 Canadians, including 350 from Saskatchewan, from Oct. 4-8.

The poll also suggested a majority (68 per cent in Saskatchewan and 73 per cent nationally) disagree with the provincial government's announced intention to use the notwithstanding clause to override any court rulings and fast-track the school pronoun policy.

Moe said he would use the notwithstanding clause after a Court of King's Bench judge issued an injunction against the policy until a full hearing could be heard. This week, the Saskatchewan Legislature was recalled early and legislation is expected to be tabled as early as Thursday.

"We should not be enacting the notwithstanding clause and ramming it through. I mean, if this happens to some of the most marginalized members of our communities in Saskatchewan, it's fair game for everybody else," said Egale executive director Helen Kennedy.

Moe has repeatedly said he believes parents should be notified about such a major issue in their child's life, and promised to use every tool available to make that happen.

WATCH | How the notwithstanding clause in Saskatchewan will play out

How the notwithstanding clause in Saskatchewan will play out

1 year ago

Duration 2:12

The battle over the provincial government's controversial school pronoun policy began Tuesday and is likely to continue all week.The notwithstanding clause can't happen overnight. CBC's Adam Hunter has more on how this will play out.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill echoed Moe's sentiments Wednesday at the legislature. He said the government will ensure there are supports in place for any student that may feel unsafe.

Cockrill also questioned the validity of the poll.

"That poll was funded by a group of Eastern lawyers that is currently suing us in court and I would say some of the questions are just not reflective of what this policy is and is trying to do," he said.

According to the poll, the issue of "parental rights" is not a high priority in any province. Only four per cent of all respondents placed it in their top-three priorities. That number was eight per cent among Saskatchewan residents, but that still trailed more than a dozen other issues including cost of living, health care, the economy, the environment, debt and crime.

Online surveys such as this are not produced with a margin of error, but spark*insights said a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.72 per cent, 19 times out of 20.