Ottawa ‘watching closely’ as provinces change school policy on pronouns, names

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transgender and nonbinary kids in a “life-or-death situation.”And while Marci Ien declined to comment on whether Ottawa sees a role for itself in any potential court challenges, the cabinet minister said the Liberal government is keeping an eye on what unfolds.“What I can tell you is that we’re watching closely as this develops,” she told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday.“Obviously anything is possible, but I’m not going to comment on anything hypothetical at this time.”Saskatchewan recently became the second jurisdiction to change its policy around pronoun use and name changes for students younger than 16, making it a rule that teachers must first seek permission from those students’ parents. The provincial government says the change originated out of concerns from parents and a desire to apply one uniform policy across all school divisions.Premier Scott Moe signalled plans to make the change ahead of the coming school year, after the topic of parental consent over issues of sexual health, orientation and gender identity was in the summer spotlight.The Saskatchewan government suspended Planned Parenthood from giving sexual health presentations in schools this spring after a Grade 9 student in Lumsden, north of Regina, took home a pamphlet containing graphic, sexual words.