FREDERICTON — New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative leader was targeted by his two main opponents during a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, forced to defend his record on issues such as health care, housing and public safety. But it was an exchange about the policy of the Blaine Higgs government on gender identity in schools that got particularly heated. Higgs, running for a third term in office, told the discussion moderator, "there was an outcry across the country" when parents learned about "secrets being kept from them about what their kids were doing at school.
" Those secrets, the Tory leader said, involved children who were questioning their gender identity, and who were able to use a new name in school without their parents' knowledge. In response, the government's new policy introduced in 2023 required teachers to get parental consent before they can use preferred first names and pronouns of students under 16. "It's shocking that this has become a discussion, when parents have always been the key player in raising their minor kids," Higgs said.
The policy caused dissent within his government, leading several cabinet ministers to resign and helping to trigger a failed attempt at ousting him as leader. Liberal Leader Susan Holt said there were no complaints before Higgs introduced the new policy. What's shocking, she said, is "we have a premier who's saying teachers are keeping secrets from parents; he's told people that teachers are teaching kids to lie.
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