Holt and the courts: Some lawsuits will go away, others may not

Whoever becomes attorney-general — the top lawyer —  in Susan Holt's new Liberal government will face piles of lawsuits, along with decisions about how quickly to clear some of them away.

By the end of its mandate, the outgoing Higgs government was embroiled in court actions touching a range of contentious issues, including abortion, trans rights, COVID-19, Indigenous land and minority language rights.

Some of those cases should soon drop off the court docket.

"We see the light at the end of the tunnel here," Kristin Cavoukian of the Anglophone East district education council told CBC's Information Morning Fredericton.

Last week, Chief Justice Marc Richard of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, put a key part of the council's Policy 713 case on hold, pointing out Holt has promised changes to the policy, which addresses gender identity in schools.

"We're not in the habit of doing moot cases if we don't have to do moot cases," Richard said.

Steve Hutchison, the province's lawyer, said his client's position was no longer clear because of the transition from a Progressive Conservative government to a Liberal one.

"We aren't in a position to obtain any instructions at all," he said.

Richard adjourned the case to give the new government time to sort out how to proceed.

Other high-profile cases may also screech to a halt soon. Some others could continue. 

Here are the best-known legal disputes involving the province, and how they may change with a Holt government in power.

The Anglophone East dispute is one of two involving last year's changes to Policy 713, which introduced a requirement for parental consent if students younger than 16 want to informally adopt new names and pronouns at school to reflect their gender identities.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed a separate application for judicial review, asking that the changes be quashed because they violate the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ students.

Holt says she will not return to the original policy but will adopt recommendations by Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock, who suggested that students in Grade 6 and above be presumed capable of deciding themselves without parental consent.