The dress code policy at the Saskatchewan legislature is under review after a woman was stopped for wearing a T-shirt saying “abortion is health care.”
Megan Johnston was told by legislative security Wednesday that she wasn’t allowed in the building with the shirt’s slogan displayed.
Johnston, who was at a reproductive rights rally outside the legislature earlier in the day, said security followed her to the washroom after they instructed her to turn her shirt inside out.
“I was really shocked. I was surprised. What if I wore a shirt that said ‘knee surgery is health care’ or ‘optometry is health care.’ Would that have had the same point of view?” Johnston said.
“I said I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I just really didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to have the word abortion on my clothing.”
Current policy states that anything related to a demonstration cannot be brought into the legislative building.
Policing Minister Christine Tell said the building’s T-shirt policy can be arbitrary, noting people wear orange T-shirts in the legislature — a nod to the effects of residential schools and their legacy.
“Oil and gas (T-shirts) would be something similar. Bearing in mind if there’s a protest for oil and gas in the front of the legislature, and they came into the gallery, that would be a continuation (of the protest),” Tell said Thursday.
“We just need to lighten up a bit.”
Tell said in her opinion the “abortion is health care” T-shirt is not controversial.
“We’re committed to ensuring that discussion takes place, and we make the necessary adjustments,” she said.
Both the Opposition NDP and Saskatchewan Party government have said they will work together to update the policy surrounding T-shirts.
Meara Conway, the NDP critic for democracy, said T-shirt slogans are a form of freedom of expression, and only hate speech should be deemed problematic in the legislature.
“This should be a place of tolerance. This should be a place of expression and I stand by that whether it’s folks bearing a message I agree with, or a message I don’t agree with,” Conway said.
“This is a place where we debate those ideas. That is the whole idea of a democracy, and we should be coming at this from a starting point of tolerance.”
