The New Brunswick Liberal government will walk back on defending parental rights and children from the harms of gender ideology.
New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Claire Johnson is rescinding the previous Conservative government’s Policy 713, which required parental consent for students under the age of 16 to change their name and pronouns at school.
“Our government committed to revising this policy, and I am confident the changes we have made are in the best interest of students, families and school personnel,” said Johnson. “It is essential that schools are inclusive and safe spaces.”
A statement from the newly-elected Liberal party said that the change is effective Jan. 1 and that the education department “will adopt a revised policy that includes changes to the informal use of a student’s chosen first name and pronoun(s) and expectations around communicating with families.”
Beginning in the new year, parental consent will no longer be a requirement for a student to change their given name or pronouns for informal use in school.
However, parental consent will be required when formally changing a student’s name and pronouns under the age of 16, those above that age won’t be affected.
“All students have the right and presumed capacity to self-identify and communicate their chosen first name and/or pronoun(s),” reads the policy. “Members of the school environment will use the chosen first name and/or pronoun(s) consistently.
“The expectation is that families are fully involved and aware. When a student is uncomfortable providing informed consent, the school will respect the student’s wishes and work with them to create a support plan to make their parent(s) aware when they are ready.”
The policy also notes that principals or school personnel may ask to have a student assessed by an approved professional when responding to cases where the student may not be fully aware of the decision that they are making.
“We wanted to make it explicit that we wanted parents involved,” noted Johnson. “We want parents involved and aware as much as possible. We really want there to be a dialogue between schools and children and everyone involved. This is a policy that’s meant to set a tone, and we want a tone of transparency and dialogue.”
Reversing Policy 713 was a campaign promise before the provincial Liberals were elected to power in October.
“We’ve been talking about this for a really long time,” added Johnson. “It became really important for New Brunswickers.”
Policy 713 was initially changed by the Progressive Conservative government last summer, requiring students under the age of 16 to acquire parental consent before altering their names and pronouns in schools.
“Parents deserve to be respected, and we must recognize the critical role in their child’s life and education,” said then-education minister Bill Hogan at the time.
“We stand by the changes we’ve made to Policy 713 and we believe that parents should be involved in every aspect of a young child’s education.”
A Leger poll commissioned by SecondStreet.org last year found that 69% of Maritimers and 57% of Canadians agree that schools should make parents aware that their kids are wishing to change genders or pronouns.
Support for the latter was higher among those with kids in their household, compared to those without kids.