Councillor says elected DECs help keep party politics out of education, defends legal spending
A battle over policies meant to protect the rights of trans kids in the New Brunswick public school system extended into the courts earlier this year, with two Charter challenges against the provincial government’s changes to Policy 713: one led by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and one by the Anglophone East District Education Council (DEC).
Now a new court battle has begun with its roots in the Policy 713 controversy: Minister of Education Bill Hogan is taking the Anglophone East DEC to court to seek its dissolution. That means the Tantramar family of schools could find itself under the direct leadership of the province, instead of an elected council.
According to a report by CBC’s Shane Magee, the case for the dissolution of the DEC will be heard by Moncton’s Court of King’s Bench on November 14, nearly a month after a provincial election slated for October 21.
CHMA spoke with Anglophone East DEC councillor Kristin Cavoukian last week to learn more about the council’s position in both its case against the province, and the provincial case against the DEC. We started off asking Cavoukian about a recent DEC decision to pursue an appeal of Judge Tracey DeWare’s decision to deny the council legal standing in its Policy 713 case.
“Our lawyers believe that some errors were made,” says Cavoukian, “and that an appeal is a worthwhile thing to do. None of us are ready to give up on this fight yet.”… Continue