{"id":161248,"date":"2023-06-16T13:21:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T17:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=161248"},"modified":"2023-06-19T11:01:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T15:01:44","slug":"policy-713-rally-in-sackville-turmoil-in-legislature-and-debate-coming-to-town-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/policy-713-rally-in-sackville-turmoil-in-legislature-and-debate-coming-to-town-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy 713: rally in Sackville, turmoil in legislature, and debate coming to town council"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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Hogan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

CHMA caught up with Tower after Tuesday\u2019s meeting:<\/p>\n\n

Tower says he has a personal connection to the policy discussion, because he has a non-binary grandchild. \u201cI personally feel that the premier and [education minister Bill] Hogan both don\u2019t have a great understanding of what it is and how it\u2019s affecting the youth,\u201d said Tower on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

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A rally in Sackville on Wednesday called for repealing recent changes to New Brunswick\u2019s Policy 713. Photo: Erica Butler<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2019s 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:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CHMA-rally-voices.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Sackville resident Jane Dryden said she\u2019s 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\u2019 Association; and the New Brunswick Women\u2019s Council, the union representing school psychologists. Dryden says she showed up Wednesday in part for \u201cfolks 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sackville resident Jane Dryden is concerned policy changes don\u2019t support kids, and possibly violates their human rights. Photo: Erica Butler<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2019s afraid the changes will make school less safe for those kids. \u201cIt\u2019s going to make it harder for kids to go to school,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cWe want kids to be able to access education, and this threatens that access.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local resident Alice Cotton feels that policy 713 helps protect privacy. \u201cThis province protects privacy in lots of areas,\u201d said Cotton. \u201cAnd it should continue to protect privacy in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie Gill told CHMA that she\u2019s concerned about the \u201cnegative motion within legislators in Canada and in the United States\u201d on issues of LGBTQ+ rights. She says it\u2019s \u201cmore important than ever to show support in the ways that you can, and to push and hold people accountable for what they\u2019re doing to our youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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, \u201cit\u2019s the other way around.\u201d She says queer and trans kids are being pressured to ignore who they are. \u201cThere are going to be queer and trans kids,\u201d she says, \u201cand 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higgs language is \u2018not neutral\u2019, says parent<\/h2>\n

Shoshanna Wingate is a Sackville parent of a trans kid, and the person who put out the call for Wednesday\u2019s rally on Policy 713. She told CHMA she felt the changes to the policy would harm \u201cchildren who are in a vulnerable place in their lives, who are coming to terms with who they are in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the exact point in time when we need to support them the most,\u201d Wingate told CHMA on Tuesday:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CHMA-Wingate-713.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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 \u201cparental rights\u201d is connected with far right Christian networks in the US, where the discussion has \u201cbecome very angry and very violent towards LGBTQ community and youth, and trans most of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe language that he\u2019s using is not neutral,\u201d says Wingate. \u201cWe need to be clear about the linkage that he\u2019s making. And we need to be clear about what message he\u2019s trying to send. To me, this is not just about policy 713. When Higgs uses that language, he\u2019s sending the message that he\u2019s coming after the LGBTQ community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s time for some introspection. \u201cI think you need to really ask yourself, why would your child not feel comfortable telling you?\u201d says Wingate. \u201cFor many kids, it\u2019s not a matter of feeling afraid that their parents might not be supportive. Maybe they\u2019re just not ready yet. Maybe they\u2019re just exploring something. That\u2019s what adolescence is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A very big win\u2019<\/h2>\n

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<\/a> at the Legislature in Fredericton in a quiet protest over the changes to Policy 713, awaiting an audience with Education Minister Bill Hogan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Liberal motion represents a lot of work by people on both sides of the floor,\u201d writes Kelly Spurles in a message to CHMA. \u201cI was elated when it passed, and immediately texted my family to say that I was coming home. It\u2019s a very big win, but it is not the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":161263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,221,225],"tags":[7150,27340,7138,26942,27339,22107,26944],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161248"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161617,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161248\/revisions\/161617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161248"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=161248"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=161248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}