N.B. intervention; province seeks intervener status in S.K. Parents' Bill of Rights court case

The New Brunswick flag waves in front of the legislative building in Fredericton. (Laura Brown/CTV Atlantic)

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

The prairie province’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.

With a provincial election in New Brunswick just over five months away, PC MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason questioned whether the move is politically motivated.

“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 health care and affordability.”

Word of New Brunswick’s intentions came in a news release late Friday afternoon.

The announcement was made after the New Brunswick legislature wrapped up its work for this legislative session. It was the last time MLAs were expected to sit before the fall provincial election.

Those who apply for intervener status are looking for permission from the court to provide context on legal questions, although the case does not affect them directly.

Interveners offer judges different perspectives to consider when making their decisions.

In the release, N.B.’s Attorney General Hugh Flemming said the case revolves around 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.

Despite Saskatchewan passing its "Parents' Bill of Rights" or Bill 137 last October, the legal challenges continue.

The Saskatchewan government used the notwithstanding clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to pass the law.

UR Pride, a student organization at the University of Regina, is challenging the constitutionality of the policy in the courts.

The Saskatchewan government says it will take this all the way to the Supreme Court if it needs to.

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 Friday to the New Brunswick government to ask how much money and resources have been set aside by the province to join Alberta in this legal endeavour, but haven’t received an answer.

N.B. Justice and Public Safety Department spokesperson Sarah Bustard did say, however, they are looking into these questions, including a request for comment from Premier Blaine Higgs.

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

Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery said at the time, 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.

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

New Brunswick’s Policy 713 is also facing court challenges.

Last August, Education Minister Bill Hogan tweaked the policy, but maintained the central elements on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools despite criticism including from the province’s youth advocate.

In September, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed a court action seeking to overturn key aspects of the New Brunswick policy.

Weeks later, multiple New Brunswick LGBTQ2S+ groups filed a motion to intervene in the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s case.

A Court of King’s Bench judge has since given permission for three groups to submit oral arguments and written briefs as part of a larger legal dispute between the New Brunswick minister of education and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) over Policy 713 changes.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.