What is New Brunswick's LGBTQ student controversy all about?

New Brunswick's premier has been facing turmoil in his own party. LGBTQ students and advocates have protested. Even the prime minister and the official Opposition leader have weighed in.

What is Policy 713 and why has it dominated New Brunswick news headlines for months?

Here's a primer.

What is the policy?

Policy 713, introduced in August 2020, set minimum standards for New Brunswick schools to provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ students. 

Its original version 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 family.

The policy became a source of controversy in early May when Premier Blaine Higgs's Progressive Conservatives confirmed they had been reviewing the policy.

In early June, the government announced the results of the review and changes they would make.

How is Policy 713 changing?

It is no longer mandatory for teachers to use the preferred pronouns or names of students under 16.

A student who refuses parental involvement would be referred to a school psychologist or social worker to develop a plan to inform the student's parents "if and when they are ready to do so."

But what Education Minister Bill Hogan said when he announced this change differs from the actual text of the policy.

Hogan said it's now forbidden to respect the chosen name and pronoun of a student under 16, even informally or verbally, without parental consent. He said teachers should wait until the referral process plays out. 

The policy isn't that explicit: there is nothing in the text that forbids teachers from informally using a student's chosen name and pronouns.

The New Brunswick Teachers' Association, the union representing school psychologists and a human rights expert are among those who have said the new wording in Policy 713 doesn't amount to a ban.

There are also two other changes to Policy 713 that have received less attention.

Wording allowing students to participate in extracurricular activities "consistent with their gender identity" was removed. Instead, it only says that students will be able to participate in curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities "that are safe and welcoming."

Another change was considered a win for LGBTQ students. A private, universal change room will be available in all schools across the province, in addition to the already mandated gender-neutral washroom.

Why make the changes?

Higgs has said that gender dysphoria — defined as a state of distress caused when a person's gender identity doesn't match their biological sex — has become popular and trendy, especially among young people. He recently suggested there has been a rise in youth with gender dysphoria because elements of society have become accepting of people changing their names and genders.

The premier has said that the changes reflect the government's desire to ensure parents play a role in the "formative years" of their children. "Families are the foundation of our society," he recently told the legislature. "And what we're seeing is that erosion of the family role in children's upbringing."

Hogan, the education minister, has said complaints over the policy number in the "hundreds, at least." But the province's child and youth advocate, Kelly Lamrock, said that when he asked the province for the correspondence that triggered the review, officials sent him copies of three emails, none of which mentioned the policy.

Also, a UNB professor submitted a right to Information request to the province asking to see the specific complaints that were received to trigger the review. In late July she was told there were no written complaints from parents who weren't told about their children's name or pronoun changes.

Hogan replied that he received feedback in the form of written complaints but also in "private conversations," which are not covered under right to information legislation. 

What has the reaction been?

Some students and advocates protested when the review was announced, at least three school district councils have passed their own policies that effectively undo the changes and unionized school psychologists and social workers have filed two grievances with the province, saying the changes would make them complicit in harming children.

Lamrock issued a 21-page report calling for the reversal of all major changes to the policy.

And Gail Costello of LGBTQ advocacy group Pride in Education said the changes and Higgs's comments about them are "transphobic."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in at a Pride event in Toronto in June.

"Right now," he said, "trans kids in New Brunswick are being told they don't have the right to be their true selves, that they need to ask permission. Trans kids need to feel safe, not targeted by politicians."

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said the prime minister has no business weighing in and called on him to "let parents raise kids."

Higgs says he has the support of many parents, and Christian conservative group 4 My Canada has said it has enough signatures to be a decisive factor in any leadership review vote.

A conservative Christian group based in British Columbia says the debate is a test case for its efforts to roll back school LGBTQ policies across the country.

Is this why Higgs has been in political trouble?

Partially. 

Progressive Conservative dissidents sat out a question period earlier this year in protest of the changes, and two cabinet ministers later resigned, though complaints cited by politicians and party members about Higgs have mostly focused on his leadership style, which they say ignores expertise and allows little input.

Four cabinet ministers voted against Higgs's wishes on the issue. Dorothy Shephard, who served as social development minister, and Trevor Holder, who had been labour minister, both resigned before a cabinet shuffle in June that saw the two other dissidents bounced from cabinet.

Arlene Dunn, who was named minister of post-secondary education, training and labour Tuesday, was among those who had previously signed a letter expressing disappointment in the changes to Policy 713.

She stood by that Tuesday.

"I didn't think that we should have touched that," she said.

A push by some party members to remove Higgs as leader is still underway. Higgs's government's mandate ends in October next year.