Policy 713
The original policy, enacted in 2020 under the province's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and signed by then-minister Dominic Cardy, required school personnel to use students' pronouns and chosen names.
The revised policy, released in June 2023, included changes that forbade New Brunswick teachers from using the preferred names and pronouns of students under the age of 16 without parental consent.
Kelly Lamrock, the Child, Youth and Seniors' Advocate for New Brunswick, criticized the revised policy and stated it opened the province to legal risk.
In the aftermath of Policy 713's revision, multiple Progressive Conservative politicians elected under Higgs, such as cabinet ministers and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), have either resigned or publicly declared they would not seek re-election in 2024.
[10] According to New Brunswick Teachers' Association president Connie Keating, protesters gathered at one of the session locations as a result of misinformation spread on social media.
[13][14] On May 16, New Brunswick Child, Youth and Seniors' Advocate Kelly Lamrock published a 21-page report stating that his office had discovered three complaints,[15] zero being made by either teachers or students.
[16] In late July, a freedom of information request filed by a University of New Brunswick professor found that the province had received no written complaints from parents claiming they were not told about changes in their child's name or pronouns.
In response, Andy Clark, president of the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association, said that no complaints had been made by any individual regarding fairness for cisgender students in the eight years since the implementation of a trans-inclusive policy.
[23][24] His department updated three of the policy's sections: self-identification,[25] sports participation and universal spaces,[26] "to provide clarity and to respond to the feedback received during consultations.
[29] On August 15, Lamrock's office released a report stating that the changes violated children's charter rights by forcing them to use a name they did not identify with, and that the Education Department had not seriously considered the legal implications.
[36] On May 1, 2024, Justice Richard Petrie granted intervener permission to Egale Canada, three local LGBTQ+ organizations, along with the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance and Equality New Brunswick.
[13] Kristin Cavoukian, a member of the Anglophone East School District council, described it as a "bewildering announcement", drawing similarity to anti-LGBT initiatives in the United States.
[8] Rob Fowler, former chairman of the Anglophone South School District, opposed the review, expressing his belief that the education minister was "abandoning vulnerable students and staff".
"[48] Two additional cabinet ministers who served under Higgs, Daniel Allain and Jeff Carr, expressed their “extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency” in a jointly signed letter following the revision.
[54] Throughout early 2024, multiple Progressive Conservative politicians such as Arlene Dunn, Mike Holland, Carr, Allain,[56][57] Shephard as well as Holder have all made announcements either resigning or opting out of running for re-election.
[60] The following month, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Hampton MLA Gary Crossman announced that he would be leaving the Legislative Assembly "within days," stating that his "personal and political beliefs no longer align in many ways with the direction of our party and government.
[64] On June 8, during a pride event in Toronto, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly condemned the Higgs government's changes to the policy, saying "trans kids need to feel safe, not targeted by politicians".
[65][66] In response, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said, "The prime minister has no business in decisions that should rest with provinces and parents", calling the issue a "provincial policy.
[69][70] In a July 2023 survey conducted by Research Co. among 1,000 Canadians, 49% expressed support for the notion that teachers should be required to use the preferred names or pronouns of 16-year and below-aged students without parental notification.
Hundreds of attendees, mostly students from the Saint John, Harbour View, St. Malachy's Memorial, and Simonds high schools, gathered to protest the review.
[86][87] After a court injunction was granted against Saskatchewan's policy, Premier Scott Moe pledged to enshrine the legislation in law and to invoke the notwithstanding clause to protect it from legal challenges.
