Latest news with #Bill137
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sask. Party MLAs remain banned from Pride parades in Regina, Prince Albert, Battlefords
Regina's Queen City Pride (QCP) and other organizations have decided to maintain their ban on Saskatchewan Party MLAs during Pride month festivities in June. Responding to Bill 137, which passed in October 2023, Pride groups around Saskatchewan last year barred Sask. Party MLAs from participating in Pride events. The bill, also known as the Parental Bill of Rights, requires students under 16 to obtain parental or guardian consent 'before the pupil's teachers and other employees of the school use the pupil's new gender-related preferred name or gender identity at school.' As a result, the Pride flag is not being raised at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building for a second year in a row. According to QCP co-chair Riviera Bonneau, if the government isn't willing to reverse its policy, then neither is QC Pride. The province did not respond to a request for comment before the Leader-Post's print deadline. 'The existing Government of Saskatchewan has not done anything to rectify Bill 137,' Bonneau said Friday. 'They have not spoken with any queer organizations to try to do better.' The Queen City Pride Festival — an annual 10-day celebration of Regina's gender and sexually diverse communities — officially opened Friday with a flag-raising ceremony at Regina City Hall. The annual Pride parade from which MLAs were banned last year is scheduled for next Saturday. Several groups are holding the line on their policy, with Prince Albert Pride and Battlefords and Area Pride maintaining their respective bans. 'They're not welcome,' said Kelly Waters, secretary of Battlefords and Area Pride. 'They haven't changed their positions.' Waters said it's important for the organization to create a safe environment for its members — and inviting the MLAs would 'not be safe.' Andromeda Eremondi, chair of Prince Albert Pride, said the organization would consider an application from Sask. Party MLAs. However, it would only happen if they denounce Bill 137 and commit to repealing it while also refusing to engage in 'any of the change-room nonsense' which reared its head during the provincial election in October 2024. The provincial government subsequently announced that Saskatchewan school boards would be required to implement change-room policies regarding trans and gender-diverse students. 'We are hesitant to allow politicians that aren't proven allies,' Eremondi said via email. 'We're wary of those saying they love our community while working to attack members within our community.' During Friday's flag raising in Regina, speakers focused on the importance of visibility while sticking to the root of Pride's cause as shown through protests and political action. Asked what she feels the response will be to the continued MLA ban, Bonneau said: 'I think the response from the Saskatchewan government will be apathy. 'I unfortunately do not think they care about us, which is why it's incredibly important for us to stand up every year and make sure we tell them: we do not like what they are doing, and we will oppose it, and we will stand against it every year.' Saskatchewan passes school pronoun bill using notwithstanding clause 'They're not our allies': Queen City Pride bars Sask. Party from Pride month celebrations alsalloum@ The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
CBC
09-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Dene teacher shares tools she developed to empower 2-spirit youth in the classroom
Tanzy Janvier struggled to embrace her two-spirit identity as a child going to Catholic school. Now a Grade 8 teacher in Saskatoon, she's helping other teachers support 2SLGBTQ+ youth in the classroom so that they don't struggle as she once did. Janvier, who is Dene and originally from La Loche, Sask., founded an organization called Indigenous Teachers for Two-Spirit Youth where she shares knowledge and experiences with fellow educators and tools that they may use in the classroom to help their students, from elementary to high school. She presented a workshop called Empowering Two-Spirit Youth: Decolonizing Education with Indigenous Teachers for Two-Spirit Youth at the Think Indigenous conference last week in Regina. "School is the very first place where students start to explore the identity amongst their peers and if they don't have those safety nets to be able to do that, once they're done school and in adulthood they don't know who they are and how that impacts them so much," said Janvier. Janvier said teachers are trying to find ways on how best to support diverse students. She said some teachers already feel overwhelmed with how to teach Indigenous content and 2SLGBTQ+ content, so when you combine the two, that can be even more overwhelming. "We're some of the most marginalized groups and have some of the most unfortunate statistics when it comes to attendance and suicide rates," said Janvier. "It's really important that we focus on them so that they know that they're safe and feel included." In October 2023, Saskatchewan passed Bill 137, also known as the "Parents' Bill of Rights" which requires parental consent for students under 16 to use preferred names and pronouns at school, and invokes the notwithstanding clause to override certain sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Janvier said there was no consultation with Indigenous communities on the bill, and it has caused more harm to two-spirit youth. CBC Indigenous asked the Ministry of Education if it consulted Indigenous people in the creation of the bill. In a written statement, the ministry said it heard from concerned parents and guardians across the province regarding sexual health education, including many parents and guardians of school-aged children. Janiver said things like Bill 137 prevent two-spirit youth from having a chance to be able to safely explore who they are and that puts them at risk when they do leave the safety of the school and their community. "We have to think about the next seven generations ahead of us, so the legacy that I am hoping for is that when a two-spirit or Indigenous queer youth enters a school, they know exactly who they are and it is reflected to them as well," said Janvier. Madelaine Enns, who is Métis and lives in Saskatoon, leads the workshops with Janvier. She said she is just coming to understand herself as a two-spirit person. Enns said sometimes schools aren't the safest spaces, even for 2SLBGTQ+ teachers. "If I'm feeling uncomfortable going into schools and not feeling like I can be myself, I can only imagine what it's like for students," said Enns.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scrapping produced water reuse to get Strategic Water Supply Act across finish line
Feb. 22—A major change to a bill that would commercialize the treatment and reuse of saltwater resources seems to have swayed more legislators into supporting the effort. The legislation passed its second of three House committees unanimously Saturday. House Bill 137, known as the Strategic Water Supply Act, would allow the state to dole out money and enter into contracts with entities that treat and reuse brackish water — saline water found in places like underground aquifers. Previously, the legislation would've allowed reuse projects for produced water, a toxic byproduct of oil and gas operations. But after the bill narrowly passed its first committee, with a Democrat voting against it because of its produced water components, bill sponsors decided to compromise on the legislation: They took out all of its produced water components. Bill sponsor Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, told the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee that New Mexico needs every drop of water it can get as it expects a decreasing water supply in future decades. In a statement Friday, she said the Strategic Water Supply Act is too important to let its produced water provisions cause its failure. The change swayed some legislators, such as Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, who said he initially opposed the bill but was sold on it with its changes. However, Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, who's been wary of the effort, said he appreciates the work done on the bill, but it doesn't fix climate change. Brackish water isn't located "everywhere we need water to be," he said, and treatment will be expensive. Brackish water projects are estimated to cost between $3 million and $107 million, according to a November feasibility study from the New Mexico Environment Department and an environmental research organization. The costs are significantly less than those of produced water projects, which would range between $13 million and $667 million. The state wouldn't be fronting all those costs. It would have the ability to enter into contracts or award grants for treated brackish water projects, pulling from a $75 million strategic water supply program fund HB137 would create. "What the state receives in return is saving freshwater resources while providing a new or alternative water resource to projects that align with state goals," said Rebecca Roose, state infrastructure adviser, in response to McQueen. New Mexico's brackish water resources are largely undeveloped due to the high costs as well as a need to construct wells to access the water, according to the feasibility study. Three basins are particularly fruitful for alternative water supply options: the Española Basin in Santa Fe, the Mesilla Basin in southern New Mexico and the Albuquerque Basin. McQueen also said he's consistently heard the state isn't buying and selling water, but still has concerns with how the state would be supporting private entities rather than public entities. Projects could include reusing water for green hydrogen production, data centers and solar panel manufacturing, according to NMED. He questioned how the public can get involved in the project process, to which Roose said projects require tribal consultation and a community benefit plan. "I think the opportunities for public input are vague. ... There's not a clear public role in this process," McQueen said, still ultimately voting in support of the bill. The legislation also seeks $28.7 million to continue aquifer mapping. The feasibility study noted the state needs a better characterization of brackish water resources to "understand the treatment processes needed," so more data collection is necessary. A lack of sufficient information was the cause for many environmental advocacy organizations still opposing the bill. "While there is progress in the removal of produced water, the intent of this is purely based in economic development and a pathway to commodify brackish water without proper scientific understanding and appropriate legal framework," said Julia Bernal, executive director of Pueblo Action Alliance. Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said this isn't new technology, using processes like reverse osmosis to treat water. About two-thirds of states in the U.S. have at least one desalination plant, according to the NMED feasibility study, with neighboring state Texas having 52 plants — the third-most in the nation. "If drought conditions persist, this is a good answer for folks who rely on acequias, who rely on ditches all across the state of New Mexico, and especially as I have no idea going forward how much we're going to be fighting with the state of Texas over water," Montoya said. Pursuing produced water reuse later Herrera said she hopes to revisit produced water legislation next year instead, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham "remains committed to advancing research for produced water treatment," according to a Friday news release. HB137 also asks for $4 million so New Mexico State University, which has a produced water research consortium, can continue its research and technology development for water reuse projects, both on brackish and produced water. Since the bill is only focused on brackish water now, Roose said the intent is for the state-funded research to primarily focus on brackish water. McQueen said he's concerned that the bill doesn't have language specifying that. "We're essentially funding the existing (produced water) research, but we're sort of-kind of saying, 'Well, now you should focus on brackish water,'" he said. "My concern would be the ... (rationalization) to include produce water because potentially, going in the future, that could be included under this program."
