NB School Gender Policy: Premier Says He Won’t Back Down on Parental Rights

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he won’t back down on his government’s Policy 713 requiring parents to give consent before teachers use their children’s preferred names or pronouns, highlighting the importance of parental rights in the province. “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real, but we need to figure out how to manage it,” he said during a year-end interview with The Canadian Press. Mr. Higgs said he expects the “very important” issue of parental rights will play a large role in his Progressive Conservative Party’s campaign for the next provincial election on Oct. 21, 2024. He said it was “shocking” that the original policy allowed teachers to not tell parents about whether their child was questioning their gender identity and looking to change their pronouns or names....