NB Election 2024
The next New Brunswick election is scheduled for October 21, 2024!
For information regarding the upcoming New Brunswick Provincial election, visit Elections NB.
Premier Blaine Higgs lights up the Stop Woke movement in Canada!
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is a hero to both opponents of left-wing WOKE ideology and for those who care about parental rights in Canada.
In 2020, when Dominic Cardy was Higgs’ Minister of Education, the N.B. government brought in Policy 713, a “woke” gender identity policy that prevented parents from finding out about their underage children’s “preferred pronoun” preferences at school, or any preferences they expressed regarding the name they chose to be called at school. After Cardy’s departure from the government, Higgs reviewed Cardy’s record and, along with the new Minister of Education, Bill Hogan, decided to completely reverse the direction of Policy 713.
Higgs explained on May 27, 2023 that Cardy’s old Policy 713 was hiding student gender transition from parents.
HIGGS: As this policy stands now, elementary school children can choose a different name. The school has an obligation to develop a plan for the student to use that name, and if the child doesn’t want their parents to know, the name is used without the parent’s knowledge. The school must hide the fact that the child is using a different name or pronoun at school – to the point of taking down artwork with the student’s chosen name on parent-teacher night. Given that parents must give consent to go on a school field trip or to have their picture taken, I can understand why parents are confused by this section of 713.
When Higgs and Hogan released the new Policy 713 on June 8, 2023, Hogan announced that the changes coming into effect on July 1, 2023 would establish parental notification as the default instead, except in cases where a student feared for their safety, when they would be referred to a mental health specialist.
HOGAN: If a transgender or non binary student under 16 wishes to change their name or pronoun, parental consent will be required. When it is not possible to obtain the consent to talk to the parent, the student will be directed to the appropriate professional, such as a social worker.
Hogan endorsed the right of parents to be involved in their children’s lives:
HOGAN: Under the policy as it currently stands if an elementary student changes their gender, and their gender identity and name, the school is required to make a plan to support the change at school. But it is in essence hidden from parents, unless the child gives permission to share that with them. We believe that it is fundamentally wrong to not share this information with parents if we are using it on a daily basis. It puts teachers in a really challenging position, when we recognize that teachers hold a position of public trust. We understand that the impact on a chlld’s mental health is significant and that we need the support from our partners and our stakeholders in education, which primarily are our parents. We must respect parents and the role that they play in their child’s life and education. Parents are in the best position to support their child through the majority of life changes like a change in gender identity.
Facing opposition from some members of his own PC caucus over the issue, plus fierce criticism from the Woke Liberals, NDP, school boards, teachers unions, and media, Higgs was defiant, vowing to fight an election over this issue if required.
HIGGS: There are parents who are responsible for the children but they also have rights, and that's how we have to balance this discussion. And that’s why as we see more and more parents getting involved, we can't simply dismiss that and say “Oh, that doesn’t matter.” And I would say directly here there's not a member in this house that hasn't had a comment from parents saying “What are you talking about here, of course we need to be involved, of course we need a role...”
Since his policy shift of June 2023, Higgs has encountered disloyal and woke PC Party MLAs and PC party activists – from his own party! - intent on challenging his leadership; defiant school boards in the province, legal challenges to his policy; determined opposition from the woke NB Liberals and Greens; and even criticism from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of the most left-wing and woke politicians in Canada. In the face of all of this, Higgs has held his ground.
Higgs’s courage and determination has further inspired similar action in Saskatchewan, where Premier Scott Moe, in the fall of 2023, introduced legislation along the same lines as Higgs’ policy, with the Saskatchewan legislature passing Moe’s new parental rights law, even going so far as to invoke Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ “notwithstanding clause” in order to protect the new parental rights legislation from being overturned by the courts.
Then, early in 2024, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith became the third provincial premier to bring in similar parental rights’ measures, and, indeed went further than Higgs. Alberta’s Smith has promised to protect women’s sports from the intrusion of biological males, as well as promising to ban the use of hormone blockers for underage teens.
Premier Blaine Higgs started the trend back in the spring of 2023. Thank you, Premier Higgs!