Sask. residents split on parental consent for school pronoun changes: survey

Saskatchewan residents appear to be split when it comes to whether or not children under 16 need parental permission to change their pronouns in school, according to a new survey.

Last week the provincial government announced a new policy that included a requirement that parents of children under 16 must give consent to schools if their child wishes to change their pronouns or the name they are referred to at school.

According to a new Angus Reid Institute poll, 46 per cent of the 255 Saskatchewan respondents to the poll believe consent should not be required.

However, the vast majority of respondents — 86 per cent — believe that schools should inform parents if their kids wish to use a different pronoun.

Fifty per cent of the respondents felt that parents must be informed and give consent.

Just 10 per cent felt parent's shouldn't be informed and don't need to give their consent.

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Saskatchewan follows New Brunswick in introducing policies around pronoun changes in schools. On Monday, Ontario's education minister signaled a similar policy may be in the works.

The national poll was conducted in July before Saskatchewan announced its new policy.

Saskatchewan was in line with the national average of 35 per cent when it came to the question of schools informing parents of pronoun changes.

It was above the national average of 43 per cent when it came to the question of consent.

The Angus Reid Institue says the online survey was conducted an online survey from July 26-31 among a representative randomized sample of 3,016 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum, with a margin of error of +/- 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.