N.B. plans to dissolve education council
The province of New Brunswick will attempt to dissolve an education council over litigation fees.
Education Minister Bill Hogan sent a strongly-worded letter to Harry Doyle, the chair of the Anglophone East School District Education Council (DEC), on Tuesday.
The DEC is in the process of taking the province to court over changes it made to Policy 713 — which refers to sexual orientation and gender in schools — last summer.
In the letter, Hogan said as of April 16 the DEC has expended $279,917 on litigation fees.
On Thursday, Hogan said he’s made it clear the leadership of the DEC is using funds in what he called an irresponsible manner.
“They are diverting almost $300,000 from classrooms to Ontario-based lawyers to file a motion to fight the rights of parents to be informed about their kids under 16,” said Hogan in a statement released by the province at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Hogan said he laid out clear actions the DEC could take to bring the situation to a resolution, but his deadline of 5 p.m. on Thursday came and went without a satisfactory response.
“They (DEC) have left me no options but to commence the process for dissolution of the Anglophone East DEC. Since dissolution under the Education Act requires application to the court, I won't comment further,” said Hogan.
In his letter to Doyle, Hogan said it was his opinion the litigation expenditure does not comply with any of permissible categories of expenditures identified in the province’s Education Act and is a “misappropriation of public funds.”
"These are funds that were meant to support public education and is a missed opportunity to support improved educational outcomes in your district and schools,” wrote Hogan in the letter.
He went on to say the litigation expenditure is evidence that the DEC are expending resources irresponsibly.
In the event of non-compliance, the minister told Doyle he intended to dissolve the DEC in accordance to the Education Act.
Constitutional lawyer Lyle Skinner was asked if the minister could do that.
“Yes and no. What the Education Act says is that the minister can make a request to a judge to dissolve. So there's a little bit of a buffer,” said Skinner. “The maximum the minister can do on his own accord is make a request to the court.”
Skinner said the determination of whether or not a DEC can be dissolved is in the hands of a judge and not the minister.
Megan Mitton, the Green MLA for Tantramar-Memramcook, called Hogan’s letter disturbing.
“This is a locally-elected school board that we're talking about. The Minister of Education is threatening to dissolve it. That is completely unacceptable. And so we see Higgs and Hogan attacking democratic institutions in New Brunswick.”
The province announced changes to Policy 713 last June.
Under the changes, students 16 years old or younger who are exploring their gender identity must have parental consent before teachers can use their preferred first names or pronouns at school.
Two months later, the Progressive Conservative government clarified their changes, saying psychologists, social workers and those in informal settings are permitted to use children's preferred names and pronouns without the consent of their parents.
Many youth and LGBTQ+ advocates in the province have said the changes make the policy more discriminatory.
Mitton thinks the changes are harmful.
“What they did was they took a policy that had been written by experts and people in the LGBTQ+ community and they changed it so that it no longer served that community. And it violates the rights of non-binary and trans students,” said Mitton.
The Anglophone East School District and its education council declined to comment.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Wildfires are dampening against cool, rainy weather, but there's plenty left to contain
An opportune system of cool, wet weather Friday is dampening the spread of wildfires across Western Canada, but there's still plenty of work for responders and residents alike.
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in '9 to 5' and the nasty TV director in 'Tootsie,' has died. He was 92.
Information commissioner faces $700K funding shortfall, says system is 'overwhelmed'
Canada's information commissioner says her office is facing a $700,000 funding shortfall that could impact its ability to investigate complaints about government transparency and accountability.
Backlash over NFL player Harrison Butker's commencement speech has reached a new level
The NFL is distancing itself from controversial comments by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during a recent commencement address.
Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.