Gender identity policy hits the New Brunswick campaign trail

Mentions of school gender identity policy had been largely absent from the campaign, but that changed this week as election day approaches.

Despite dominating political conversation for 18 months and spurring a caucus revolt within the Progressive Conservative Party, school gender identity policy had been mostly missing from the campaign trail in New Brunswick’s election, apart from a few allusions from PC Leader Blaine Higgs.

“It’s children learning from their parents, it’s parents knowing what their children are doing,” Higgs said during his campaign launch in Quispamsis on Sept. 19.

But that changed this week with a blitz of PC advertisements on social media, specifically targeting Liberal Leader Susan Holt’s stance on the issue.

The party has also circulated a statement from former education minister Bill Hogan on the issue.

“We believe parents are the experts when it comes to raising kids,” he said.

“Blaine Higgs and the PCNB team will maintain current policies that respect parental involvement in education. We will also not put the system in a position that requires them to hold back information from parents.”

In 2023 the governing Tories changed a policy they had implemented in 2020, to require parental consent for students under 16 wishing to use a name or pronoun different from their birth gender. The change was panned by the child and youth advocate and LGBTQ2 stakeholders, who say it may put in harm’s way some children who live in unsupportive homes, or keep them in the closet.

The changes are also being challenged in court by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which alleges the changes breach the Charter rights of children.