(Fredericton) A Progressive Conservative minister in New Brunswick seeking a new term has created controversy after comparing the province’s former policy on gender identity in schools to the residential school system for Indigenous people.
Sherry Wilson, minister responsible for women’s equality in Blaine Higgs’ government, was referring to the policy at the time which allowed teachers to use the preferred first and pronouns of transgender and non-binary students at school.
Invoking “parental rights”, the Progressive Conservative government of Blaine Higgs modified this directive in 2023: teachers must now obtain consent from the parents of students under 16 years old.
In a Facebook post Monday, on the occasion of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Minister Wilson argued that the residential school system isolated Indigenous children from their parents, their traditional values and their family culture .
She concluded by pledging to “keep parents of minor children informed and involved in the development of their children while they are in the care of our public schools.”
The Progressive Conservative team did not respond to a request for comment, and M’s Facebook postme Wilson has since been removed.
The chief of the Pabineau First Nation, Terry Richardson, requested Monday evening the withdrawal of his candidacy in Albert-Riverview, south of Moncton. “Prime Minister Higgs, you must make this woman step aside immediately […] Shame on you and shame on your party,” Chief Richardson wrote on social media.
The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation also called for his candidacy to be withdrawn. According to Maliseet leaders, there is no comparison to be made between the “theft, abuse and murder” of children in the name of the state and Christianity, and school policies on individual choice of first names and pronouns.
“We know that Indigenous members of the 2SLGBTQIA community “are disproportionately affected by sectarian positions and attitudes,” they wrote in a press release.
The leaders of Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn, who represent the nine Mi’kmaq nations of New Brunswick, believe it is “offensive and disrespectful” to try to compare the two situations.
“The way a teacher in New Brunswick works with gender diverse children to make them feel safe is not the same as seeing a child ripped from the arms of a parent and removed from their family , its community and its culture,” the Mi’kmaq leaders said in a statement posted on social media.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt called Ms.’s message “completely disrespectful and inappropriate.”me Wilson. “Clearly, this demonstrates its lack of understanding of basic history and is yet another example of this government’s lack of respect for First Nations,” she said in a written statement.
Green Party deputy leader Megan Mitton called the message Mme Wilson as “abhorrent, indefensible and completely wrong,” and she asked him to apologize to Indigenous communities in New Brunswick and across the country.