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
Councillor says elected DECs help keep party politics out of education
On today’s show, we talk with Anglophone East District Education Councillor Kristin Cavoukian about a court action filed last week by Minister of Education Bill Hogan, seeking to dissolve the Anglophone East DEC. Cavoukian talks about the DEC’s decision to appeal a judge’s decision in its recent case against the province, and what’s at stake with the possible dissolution of the elected district council.
Plus in news briefs: Mount Allison’s Athletics Director is gone suddenly; Tantramar council decides to take a break from scheduled council meetings until August 26; and funding comes through to add pedestrian bridges to maintain a one kilometer walking loop around the new retention pond.… Continue
Hogan files for dissolution of Anglophone East District Education Council
Updated July 5, 2024, 10pm to include confirmation of filing from Department of Education spokesperson, Erika Jutras.
School may be out for the summer, but the Anglophone East District Education Council was back in action on Thursday, responding to news of an order in council approved by the provincial cabinet on May 9, 2024, authorizing Minister Bill Hogan to go to court to dissolve the District Education council for Anglophone East. By end of day Friday, the minister would make use of that authorization.
Hogan had previously threatened the council with dissolution, but the order in council shows that he has support of the PC government cabinet to pursue the dissolution.
In a statement Thursday, the DEC says they have not received “any formal notice indicating that the minister has filed the required application to dissolve the DEC with the court.”
But a spokesperson for the Education department told CHMA that could be coming soon. “The intention is to file shortly with the court to dissolve the District Education Council for Anglophone-East,” wrote communications officer Judy Winter in response to a CHMA enquiry Thursday.
It’s not clear if the court would be able to deal with the matter before the New Brunswick provincial election, due to happen in less than four months’ time, by October 21, 2024.
The DEC statement says it is prepared to “defend its integrity through all available channels”, if and when the minister “chooses to act on the May 9th authorization.”… Continue
Lawyers argue legality of court injunction to protect DEC policy pending Charter case
Chief Justice Tracey DeWare will deliver her decision on one of the legal questions in a case surrounding Policy 713 by June 3, 2024, though the Court of King’s bench judge said she would “do [her] darndest” to have the decision released sooner.
DeWare presided over a hearing on Tuesday looking at whether or not the Anglophone East District Education Council (DEC) can ask the court for temporary injunctions against the Department of Education, while the court decides on the district’s constitutional challenge to provincial policy 713.
The policy was amended by Education Minister Bill Hogan last summer, to require teachers not to use names and pronouns requested by students under 16 unless they first get advance approval from parents.
The DEC launched a constitutional challenge to Hogan’s revised policy in April based on the idea that it asks them to discriminate against students based on their gender identity. At the same time they asked the court to temporarily prevent the enforcement of the policy and the dissolution of the DEC, something Hogan has threatened.
On Tuesday, DeWare told the court she would be considering only the legal question of whether the court ‘can’ impose an injunction, and not whether or not it ‘should’. A second, four day long hearing is scheduled for June to consider the ‘should’ question, if DeWare allows the motion to proceed.
Anglophone East turns down Hogan request to repeal Policy 713 fix
An Anglophone East district councillor says that a letter from education minister Bill Hogan asking the DEC to repeal their supplemental policy to the education department’s Policy 713 was “incredibly vague”, and after getting legal advice, the DEC has voted to turn down the minister’s request.
“There was nothing in the letter that said which parts of our policy are in contravention of the minister’s own policy,” says Cavoukian. “So there was not a lot to go on there.”
Although it didn’t explicitly say so, Cavoukian says Hogan’s letter seemed to call for a complete repeal of the DEC’s policy, which passed this summer shortly after Hogan made a second revision to the government’s policy.
The Anglophone East policy requires staff to consult with transgender or non binary students of any age to determine their preferred first name and pronoun, and then use those consistently. That offers a stronger protection for students than the province’s revised policy, which requires teachers to get parental consent before using a name requested by a student, if they are under 16 years of age.
The province’s policy specifies that districts may create supplemental policies that are “consistent with, or more comprehensive than,” the provincial policy. Cavoukian says the Anglophone East DEC based their policy on advice in a report from the Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock, which was designed to beef up protections, without contravening the Department of Education’s policy.… Continue
Hogan’s Policy 713 changes a ‘disappointment’ for Anglophone East councillor
When teachers call students by name in the classroom, that’s a “formal” use of their name, on par with the name they have recorded in online records and report cards. That’s how Education Minister Bill Hogan has defined the term in a newly revised Policy 713 on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Informal use of names, according to Hogan and the Department of Education, happens only in social interactions outside of the classroom.
The new definition means that the province’s newly revised Policy 713 now explicitly requires teachers to get parental consent before using the preferred name of students aged 15 and younger. The previous version appeared to remove the requirement for teachers to use preferred names for students under 16, but did not restrict them from doing so.
Hogan’s definition of formal name use lies in contrast to how Kelly Lamrock, the province’s Child and Youth Advocate, defined use of names in his report on Policy 713 published last week. Lamrock describes informal use of names as including “classroom communication, extracurricular and co-curricular activities, free time, and social conversation,” and he contrasts those informal uses to official school uses such as online records and report cards.
Lamrock has heavily criticized Policy 713 for creating rules around use of names for trans and genderqueer students that do not apply to other groups.… Continue
Tantramar Council rejects move to send protest letter over Policy 713 changes
Tantramar councillor Mike Tower was hoping to send a message to Premier Blaine Higgs about his recent changes to the province’s education policy 713, which protects LGBTQ+ students in schools. The veteran councillor has a personal connection to the policy, because he has a non-binary grandchild.
But on Tuesday, the majority of Tower’s fellow councillors turned down his motion, citing a lack of jurisdiction and expertise on the issue.
Tower’s motion would have authorized the mayor to write a letter to the Premier asking him to “stop to proposed changes, maintain the original policy 713, and consult with school psychologists, teachers, parents and students.”
Three councillors voted in favour of the motion (Tower, and Councillors Josh Goguen and Allison Butcher), with the rest of council and the mayor voting against.
Mayor Andrew Black kicked off debate on the motion by telling council he felt the matter was out of their jurisdiction, comparing it to the controversial French Immersion program change proposed by the Higgs government last December. Tower rejected that position, comparing it instead to a health care issue.
“Much like the hospital, when they were trying to close it down, we had to step up because it’s the importance of the health of our Tantramar region,” said Tower. “If we can’t take that as part of our responsibility and mandate… then I think something’s wrong.”
Councillor Matt Estabrooks spoke in opposition to the motion, saying he did not feel that he or council had the expertise to weigh in on the matter, and that it would be better to wait until provincial Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock completed his review, which is due in mid August.… Continue
Policy 713: rally in Sackville, rebellion in legislature, and debate coming to town council
In the legislature on Thursday, six PC MLAs voted in favour of an opposition motion calling for a review of changes to the education department’s Policy 713. The PC votes meant the Liberal motion passed, 26 to 20 in favour of the policy review, to be performed by child and youth advocate, Kelly Lamrock. Though the motion is not binding on the government, Lamrock has said it is binding on him, and he will follow through.
Hogan’s Policy 713 changes have been stirring up action in Tantramar this week as well. On Tuesday evening, Councillor Michael Tower gave notice of a motion he intends to make at the next regular meeting, to write a letter on behalf of council supporting the original policy 713, which among other things, requires teachers to address students of all ages by their preferred names and pronouns.
CHMA caught up with Tower after Tuesday’s meeting:
Tower says he has a personal connection to the policy discussion, because he has a non-binary grandchild. “I personally feel that the premier and [education minister Bill] Hogan both don’t have a great understanding of what it is and how it’s affecting the youth,” said Tower on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, a group of about 18 Sackville residents gathered to voice their support for a repeal of the changes. The rally was originally planned to piggyback on the town’s Pride Picnic, which was postponed due to weather.… Continue
Sackville parent hits the capital to talk importance of calling kids by the names they call themselves
Sackville parent Patricia Kelly Spurles is spending Friday on the front lawn of the New Brunswick legislature, waiting for her chance to meet and talk with Education minister Bill Hogan about his recently announced changes to New Brunswick’s Policy 713. Kelly Spurles says she’ll continue to show up while the legislature is in session, in hopes of being able to share her concerns about what Hogan’s policy changes could mean from trans kids and their families.
After releasing his changes in a news conference Thursday morning, Hogan immediately took criticism in the legislature, most notably from Liberal leader Susan Holt, Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, and eight members of his own party, who sat out of the legislature, citing concerns over the process of revising Policy 713.
Hogan outlined three areas of change, with the most significant being in the requirements around addressing students. The original policy 713 required that school staff use a student’s preferred first name and pronouns “consistently in ways that the student has requested.” But Hogan’s revision limits this requirement to only students 16 and over.
Hogan told reporters that he felt the original policy was “fundamentally wrong” because it did not require parents to be notified of preferred name changes in kids under 16. Under the current policy, changes to how a child is addressed at school could be, “in essence hidden from parents unless the child gives permission to share that with them.… Continue