In the legislature on Thursday, six PC MLAs voted in favour of an opposition motion calling for a review of changes to the education department’s Policy 713 - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The PC votes meant the Liberal motion passed, 26 to 20 in favour of the policy review, to be performed by child and youth advocate, Kelly Lamrock. Though the motion is not binding on the government, Lamrock has said it is binding on him, and he will follow through.

Hogan’s Policy 713 changes have been stirring up action in Tantramar this week as well. On Tuesday evening, Councillor Michael Tower gave notice of a motion he intends to make at the next regular meeting, to write a letter on behalf of council supporting the original policy 713, which among other things, requires teachers to address students of all ages by their preferred names and pronouns.

CHMA caught up with Tower after Tuesday’s meeting:

Tower says he has a personal connection to the policy discussion, because he has a non-binary grandchild. “I personally feel that the premier and [education minister Bill] Hogan both don’t have a great understanding of what it is and how it’s affecting the youth,” said Tower on Tuesday evening.

A rally in Sackville on Wednesday called for repealing recent changes to New Brunswick’s Policy 713. Photo: Erica Butler

On Wednesday, a group of about 18 Sackville residents gathered to voice their support for a repeal of the changes. The rally was originally planned to piggyback on the town’s Pride Picnic, which was postponed due to weather. CHMA spoke to some of parents, teachers, students and others gathered to find out why they showed up:

Sackville resident Jane Dryden said she’s been paying attention to the momentum around repealing the changes, in light of a number of statements from professional organizations like the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association; and the New Brunswick Women’s Council, the union representing school psychologists. Dryden says she showed up Wednesday in part for “folks who do have some power in the legislature and elsewhere, who we know are fighting against these changes, to show them that we really do support them in that particular fight.”

Sackville resident Jane Dryden is concerned policy changes don’t support kids, and possibly violates their human rights. Photo: Erica Butler

Local youth worker Michael Freeman said he has worked with kids in the past who have relied on Policy 713 in their school lives, and he’s afraid the changes will make school less safe for those kids. “It’s going to make it harder for kids to go to school,” said Freeman. “We want kids to be able to access education, and this threatens that access.”

Local resident Alice Cotton feels that policy 713 helps protect privacy. “This province protects privacy in lots of areas,” said Cotton. “And it should continue to protect privacy in this area.”

Julie Gill told CHMA that she’s concerned about the “negative motion within legislators in Canada and in the United States” on issues of LGBTQ+ rights. She says it’s “more important than ever to show support in the ways that you can, and to push and hold people accountable for what they’re doing to our youth.”

Kate Des Roches says the backward momentum on LGBTQ+ rights is likely connected to fears that kids are being indoctrinated somehow by the increased visibility of queer and trans people in recent years. In reality, says Des Roches, “it’s the other way around.” She says queer and trans kids are being pressured to ignore who they are. “There are going to be queer and trans kids,” she says, “and you can either let them be themselves, and let them live in a way that is true to them, or you can try to squash that out of them and make them feel like who they are is wrong.”

Higgs language is ‘not neutral’, says parent

Shoshanna Wingate is a Sackville parent of a trans kid, and the person who put out the call for Wednesday’s rally on Policy 713. She told CHMA she felt the changes to the policy would harm “children who are in a vulnerable place in their lives, who are coming to terms with who they are in the world.”

“That’s the exact point in time when we need to support them the most,” Wingate told CHMA on Tuesday:

Wingate says one of the reason she was inspired to call the rally is the parallel she sees between the language used by Premier Higgs to justify changes to the policy, and American politicians like Florida Governor and Trump rival Ron DeSantis. In particular, Wingate says the framing around “parental rights” is connected with far right Christian networks in the US, where the discussion has “become very angry and very violent towards LGBTQ community and youth, and trans most of all.”

“The language that he’s using is not neutral,” says Wingate. “We need to be clear about the linkage that he’s making. And we need to be clear about what message he’s trying to send. To me, this is not just about policy 713. When Higgs uses that language, he’s sending the message that he’s coming after the LGBTQ community.”

To parents who might be concerned about a loss of control or connection if their kids choose not to inform them first about changes to their public identity, Wingate says it’s time for some introspection. “I think you need to really ask yourself, why would your child not feel comfortable telling you?” says Wingate. “For many kids, it’s not a matter of feeling afraid that their parents might not be supportive. Maybe they’re just not ready yet. Maybe they’re just exploring something. That’s what adolescence is all about.”

‘A very big win’

After the Liberal motion passed in the legislature on Thursday, another Sackville parent, Patricia Kelly Spurles, felt a sign of relief. Kelly Spurles spent a total of four full days at the Legislature in Fredericton in a quiet protest over the changes to Policy 713, awaiting an audience with Education Minister Bill Hogan.

“The Liberal motion represents a lot of work by people on both sides of the floor,” writes Kelly Spurles in a message to CHMA. “I was elated when it passed, and immediately texted my family to say that I was coming home. It’s a very big win, but it is not the goal.”

In total, 26 MLAs voted in favour of the Liberal motion, including six PCs: Jeff Carr, Andrea Anderson-Mason, Dorothy Shephard, Daniel Allain, Jeff Holder, and Ross Wetmore. After Thursday’s session, Dorothy Shephard resigned as Minister of Social Development, in part over the handling of Policy 713. Shephard will remain an MLA in the PC caucus.