PC candidate takes aim at Liberal policy; Green candidate suggests former education minister is using wedge issue to deflect attention from crises in education, health, housing
Dueling statements issued a week before voting day by two candidates in the Woodstock-Hartland riding drew attention to one of the campaign’s most contentious issues.
Progressive Conservative candidate Bill Hogan, who served as Education and Early Childhood Development Minister in the Blaine Higgs government, issued a rare statement criticizing Liberal Leader Susan Holt’s stand on Policy 713.
Holt stated late last week that her party’s policy would follow the recommendations of New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock surrounding Policy 713, which sets standards regarding the protection of LGBTQIA+ students.
Woodstock-Hartland Green candidate Jada Roche issued her own statement chastising Hogan’s stand on the issue, suggesting he should be more concerned with a New Brunswick education system in crisis.
Introduced in 2020, Policy 713 initially allowed all students to be referred to by their preferred pronouns and names without involving their parents. Teachers had to get consent from the students before sharing that information with their families.
In 2023, Higgs and Hogan announced changes to the policy forbidding teachers to recognize the preferred names or pronouns of students under 16 without the parents’ consent.
In his role as youth advocate, Lamrock reviewed the Policy 713 changes, suggesting it may violate the constitutional rights of children. He recommended that students in Grade 6, or around 12 years old, should be capable of making decisions surrounding their names and pronouns.
The Liberal policy platform adopts Lamrock’s recommendations, but Holt recently told the media that a Liberal government would be open to changes upon further study.
“We have heard from some parents who are concerned about the 12-year age so we’re always open to hearing from people who are concerned and understanding whether there’s further modifications to make, but our starting point and our intent right now is the policy (based on) the child and youth advocate’s recommendations.” Holt told the Telegraph-Journal.
Hogan responded to Holt’s Oct. 3 policy rollout by issuing a strong statement criticizing the Liberal leader.
“Susan Holt has confirmed a Liberal government would remove the role of parents with gender and name changes in our schools saying ‘it’s the teacher’s job to find a path forward with professionals,'” Hogan wrote in his statement.
He suggested Holt was replacing the role of parents with government bureaucrats.
Roche, the riding’s Green candidate, suggested Hogan’s reaction to the Policy 713 issue, instead of systemic problems with the education system, indicates the Higgs government’s interest in highlighting “wedge” issues, not real concerns.
“Bill Hogan yet again demonstrates where Progressive Conservative priorities stand. It’s not tackling the everyday crises of New Brunswickers such as health care, lack of housing or an educational system in life support,” Roche said. “Instead, Mr. Hogan and its PC party are focused on creating a wedge issue predicated on the lives of your young citizens.”
Roche said the Green Party would revise Policy 713 to incorporate the Child and Youth Advocate’s recommended changes.
During the Woodstock-Hartland candidates forum on Oct. 7 at the McCain Community Theatre, Roche, a mother of a trans child, raised concerns surrounding what she believed was an unhealthy debate surrounding cultural issues.
“Lately, we have social commentary that is full of dangerous rhetoric under the guise of saving our children,” she said. “Although what we’re saving them from, I’m really not sure. Maybe it’s literacy we’re saying them from with more than 40 per cent scoring below appropriate achievement.”
