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Marches are expected across Saskatchewan and Canada on Wednesday in support of policies giving parents more control over their children’s education.
In Saskatchewan, six rallies are planned in support of the school policies put in place by the provincial government last month, restricting who can teach in a sex education classes and requiring parental permission for things like sex ed and student pronoun or name changes.
The marches, called the “One Million March 4 Children” and the “Hands Off Our Kids March,” are being held across Canada, including events in Estevan, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current and Yorkton.
Nadine Ness is acting as spokesperson for the marches in Saskatchewan.
“I think you have a lot of parents very, very concerned throughout all of Saskatchewan,” said Ness. “I think it’s going to be really inspiring movement to see so many people come together.”
Ness, who is also the president of Unified Grassroots, gained some notoriety during the depths of the pandemic for her views and the group’s views opposing mandates and COVID-19 vaccines.
Ness has been promoting the march on Unified Grassroots’ social media accounts, talking about the policy changes and sharing stories claiming to show the “ideologies” creeping into classrooms and the “grooming” of children.
Ness said the idea of the marches started with a man in Ontario and spread across Canada. She said people are deeply concerned about what’s happening in schools, and feel parental authority over education is being pushed out the door.
“This is one of those things where they feel, ‘Oh, I can do something about it.’ (The marches are) something that they can physically attend and voice their concerns,” said Ness.
She said she’s expecting people of all backgrounds at the marches, saying organizers tried to get speakers and leaders from every community to join in.
There has been some talk about counterprotests, but Ness said the organizers have plans in place to ensure their side stays peaceful.
“We’re used to that. We’re not going to let that deter us. We’re not going to answer back in hate or anger or anything,” said Ness.
Advocates in the queer and trans communities across Canada have called the marches hate-fuelled and transphobic.
There’s a march planned for Whitehorse, and that city’s administration issued statement saying that while it supports the rights to organize and protest, it stands by the city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“The promotion of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ ideas has no place in our community and messages that target fellow community members will not be tolerated,” the statement from that city said.
Shortly after the policies were announced, protests were held in Saskatoon and Regina opposing them. Last week, the Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth declared the pronoun policy discriminatory.
On Tuesday, arguments were made in court over whether an injunction should be granted to stop the policies, with lawyers for UR Pride arguing they violate the Charter rights of students.
Meanwhile, Premier Scott Moe has said he’s willing to use the notwithstanding clause to keep the policies in place.
