Minister accused of threatening to dissolve DEC over gender policy

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The Anglophone East District Education Council is seeking three court injunctions against Education Minister Bill Hogan after he allegedly threatened to dissolve the council over its gender identity policy.

In a notice of preliminary motion filed Tuesday, the Anglophone East DEC laid out its months-long battle with Hogan over the district policy it approved to protect LGBTQ+ students in the wake of changes to the provincial government’s revised gender identity policy.

Anglophone East plans to launch its own Charter challenge of the province’s revised policy, but ahead of that matter being resolved, it’s seeking a series of injunctions to stop Hogan from quashing its district policy, from dissolving the DEC all together, and from enforcing sections of the government’s revised Policy 713.

The updated policy now requires trans and non-binary students under 16 to obtain parental consent for their chosen names and pronouns to be used in certain school settings.

Officials with Anglophone East have been at loggerheads with Hogan since September after a new district policy was implemented requiring school staff to “respect the direction of students with regards to the use of their chosen name and pronouns in daily interactions.”

But the matter appears to have come to a head over the last several weeks, according to a copy of the filing obtained through the Court of King’s Bench.

On March 27, Hogan met with Anglophone East officials where he allegedly told them he would “quash the district policy the following week and would proceed to cabinet and then to the Court of King’s Bench to seek to dissolve the DEC.” That’s allegedly unless Anglophone East removed its own gender identity policy from its website by March 31.

A day later, Hogan sent a follow-up letter requesting the DEC “amend or repeal” sections of its district policy inconsistent with Policy 713 by March 29, or he’d “repeal the district policy himself and have all copies removed from Anglophone East’s website,” according to the preliminary motion.

This isn’t the first time the education minister has allegedly made a threat during a meeting with a school district who has developed its own gender identity policy bucking the government’s changes.

At a Nov. 14 meeting, Hogan allegedly told anglophone superintendents and DEC chairs he’d be “moving forward with the dissolution of school districts” if they didn’t comply with the Policy 713 changes, according to the preliminary motion.

None of these allegations have been tested in court. Brunswick News requested comment from Hogan and was told the education department “cannot comment on matters before the courts.”

Minister allegedly ‘rejected’ DEC’s proposals

In February, Hogan sent corrective action letters to four district education councils – the three francophone and Anglophone East – asking them to amend their own gender policies or those policies would be repealed.

In response to that letter, Anglophone East requested a meeting with Hogan which occurred on March 27.

“Ahead of the meeting, and during the meeting, Anglophone East made concrete proposals to the minister for moving forward, including the creation of a working group through which the parties could more fully present their views, as well as scheduling a future meeting to continue discussions,” reads the court filing.

Hogan allegedly “rejected” all the district’s proposals during the March 27 meeting.

On Tuesday, spokesperson Diana Chávez confirmed the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development met with the Anglophone East DEC on March 27 to discuss possible next steps in response to the corrective action letter.

“To respect the process, details of the discussions between the two parties will not be disclosed,” Chávez said.

On Wednesday, Anglophone East DEC member Kristin Cavoukian confirmed that DEC members travelled to Fredericton last week to meet with Hogan. She said the meeting was “polite” but did not comment further.

Along with Anglophone East, the Francophone South DEC is standing by its own gender identity policy. It’s not clear the plans of the Francophone Northeast and Francophone Northwest DECs.

Anglophone West and Anglophone South had previously reached agreements with the minister on the wording of their own policies, while Anglophone North hadn’t adopted its own policy or adapted any other existing policies in response to the government’s changes.

In its filing, Anglophone East indicates it soon plans to file a statement of claim asking the court to declare the sections of the revised Policy 713 contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as New Brunswick’s human rights and education acts.

No court dates have been set yet on the preliminary motion.

A separate legal challenge of the policy is underway by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

– With files from Payge Woodard