(Fredericton) As he prepares for a general election year in New Brunswick, Premier Blaine Higgs says he has no plans to reverse his government’s changes to provincial policy on gender identity in schools.
In fact, he seems to be emphasizing the subject more as he seeks a third term.
For Mr Higgs, parental rights are “very important”. These rights, he believes, are reflected in his government’s changes to Policy 713, which require parental consent before teachers can use the preferred name or pronouns for transgender or non-binary students under the age of 16 years old.
This policy was copied by Saskatchewan, but also gave rise to serious divisions within the ruling Progressive Conservative Party led by Premier Higgs as well as strong criticism across Canada.
In an end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press, Blaine Higgs said he expects this issue to be on the agenda of the next electoral campaign in view of the vote scheduled for October 21, 2024.
“I always believed that parents should play the main role in raising children,” he explained. “No one is denying gender diversity, which is very real, but we have to figure out how to deal with it. »
It was shocking, he felt, that the original policy allowed teachers to keep parents in the dark about whether their child was questioning their gender identity.
It was Blaine Higgs’ own Education Minister at the time, Dominic Cardy, who implemented the policy in August 2020, which required teachers to respect students’ preferred name or pronouns. The new rules requiring parental consent came into effect in July.
The prime minister said he did not pay close attention to the wording of the policy until this year. “I forget how I found out that we actually had a clause that kept parents in the dark. So I said, “That can’t be true.” »
Without providing evidence to support his claims, Blaine Higgs added that about 60% of young people who question their gender identity “receive automatic confirmation and are put on some sort of hormone therapy” after their first medical appointment. .
Rebecca Bromwich, an assistant professor in the department of law and legal studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, does not know where Mr. Higgs found this statistic because medical records are confidential. “It seems like an ideological statement rather than an evidence-based one. And if you can show me proof of that, I will believe the Prime Minister,” she said.
The concept of “parental rights”, according to Rebecca Bromwich, is not found in Canadian law. Child protection laws and the Federal Divorce Act, she noted, protect the best interests of children. “Under Canadian law, we don’t really have a concept of parental rights. Parental rights involve property and children. Children are not property.”
Professor Bromwich believes Premier Higgs’ position on parental rights could be seen as a way to consolidate support among anti-LGBTQ members of his political base.
A fundraising letter from the Progressive Conservative Party dated this month asks members to sign a “parental rights pledge” and/or donate between $25 and $3,000 for the issue.
Not all party members agreed with the government’s position on children and gender identity. Changes to Policy 713 sparked a revolt among some members of the legislature: eight members of the Progressive Conservative caucus skipped question period in June in protest and six government members voted with the opposition to force the adoption of a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the government to bring in child and youth advocates to review the changes.
Two ministers slammed the door and in response, Blaine Higgs reshuffled his cabinet to eliminate dissidents who had not resigned.
Last week, Progressive Conservatives welcomed one more “parental rights” supporter for the 2024 election campaign. Christian activist and TV host Faytene Grasseschi was acclaimed as the candidate in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins, a riding adjacent to that of the Prime Minister. Mme Grasseschi had campaigned for the nomination by defending Policy 713.
Blaine Higgs reports that the arrival of this candidate has attracted “a lot of new members to the party”. They were won over, he added, by “his dedication, his work ethic and his ability to demonstrate his convictions.”
The Prime Minister does not fear that Faytene Grasseschi’s convictions could alienate socially progressive people from the party. “We have a very diverse population and it’s becoming more and more diverse. And we must respect everyone’s individual rights, freedoms and beliefs.”