New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has stood by his changes to Policy 713, regarding gender identity in schools, despite the turmoil it has stirred up within his Progressive Conservative Party.
Since Higgs and Education Minister Bill Hogan announced changes to Policy 713 on June 8, Higgs’s critics have collected 26 letters from party riding presidents calling for a leadership review.
One of Higgs’s ministers, MLA Trevor Holder, announced his resignation in an open letter on June 23. Holder, minister of post-secondary education, is the second of Higgs’s cabinet ministers to quit; Dorothy Shephard, minister of social development, quit last week. Both cited Higgs’s management style as a main reason.
“Caucus has been less about consensus and more about him getting his own way,” said Holder in his resignation letter. When Shephard resigned on June 15, she told reporters that cabinet and the rest of caucus “are routinely dismissed.”
Higgs said in his statement that the changes to Policy 713 had broad support in caucus and the importance of keeping parents informed and involved is “worth standing up for.”
One of the key points of the revised policy, effective July 1, is that parents should be informed when children under 16 change their names at school as they transition genders.
“The vast majority of caucus clearly supported the need for parents to be directly involved in all aspects of raising their children, especially in their formative elementary years,” Higgs said. “I stand by the changes made and most importantly I stand by parents who believe they should know what is going on with the elementary age school children.”
Enough letters calling for a leadership review have been gathered to trigger the start of the process. At the party’s next meeting, the Progressive Conservative provincial council will debate whether to undertake a review.
Holder did not overtly take a position on Policy 713 in his resignation letter. He did state, however, that his riding of Portland-Simonds is “a very diverse riding comprised of citizens of all backgrounds socially, culturally and economically.”
The Policy Changes
Higgs and Hogan announced three changes to Policy 713 on June 8.The policy previously stated that the school should ask students’ permission to contact their parents if they wish to change names, but if students don’t consent, “a plan will be put in place to support the student in managing the use of the preferred name.”
The policy now states that if students do not consent, “the student will be directed to the appropriate professional (i.e. school social worker, school psychologist) to work with them in the development of a plan to speak with their parents if and when they are ready to do so.”
The new policy adds a requirement to have private universal changing rooms in schools. Remaining in the policy is the requirement that “all students will have access to washroom facilities that align with their gender identity ... in a non-stigmatizing manner.”
It removes the statement that students may participate in extracurricular activities “consistent with their gender identity.”
Teresa Pierre, president of the advocacy group Parents as First Educators, praises Higgs for his support of concerned parents.
“Parents in New Brunswick should thank Premier Higgs for his concern for the children,” Pierre said in an email to The Epoch Times.
“The pushers of the ... gender ideology agenda are seeing their worst nightmare happen in New Brunswick: a Premier who is rejecting secrecy, and who is so open and honest about making parental rights a political issue that he’s willing to fight an election over it,” she said.
Higgs initially said he would be willing to call an early election over the issue, but last weekend said he had “no intention” of doing so.
“As a father and a grandfather, I don’t think there is anything more important than the role and responsibility of a parent in raising their children,” Higgs said in his recent statement. “As a province, our future is the next generation. That is worth standing up for.”
Education Minister Hogan said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times that he feels the “policy changes are relatively small.”
“I am appreciative of the level of interest this policy has garnered,” he said. “New Brunswickers now know this policy better than any other education policy. That in and of itself will lead to a more consistent implementation of the policy across the province, and will help us ensure a safe and welcoming environment for our students.”
