Several other groups have asked to be interveners in the judicial review initiated by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association against the New Brunswick government’s changes to Policy 713.
In June, the government made controversial changes to the policy to require parental consent for name and pronoun changes for students under the age of 16.
Advocates and several professional associations raised concerns it would force teachers to deadname children and pathologize gender identity and sexual orientation.
New Brunswick’s Child, Youth and Seniors Advocate tabled a report, which called the changes a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for children.
Since then, the CCLA has asked for a judicial review and will appear before a judge on Oct. 25 to gain public interest standing.
Joel Michaud, an experienced attorney with Pink Larkin in Fredericton, is representing the New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation.
The union wants to intervene in the CCLA’s legal action on the basis that the policy and the threat of discipline for going against the new policy changes, by Education Minister Bill Hogan, violates their Charter right to freedom of expression.
“From the union’s perspective, if an employer adopts a policy, the policy, first of all, needs to be legal and then it needs to be clear and it needs to comply with the collective agreement and cannot be arbitrary,” he said. “One of the problems we have right now is that some districts have adopted policies which to me are inconsistent with the provincial policy so that leaves teachers in a very difficult position.”
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Michaud said there is great value in the legal action that has been brought and having diverse perspectives around the table is more likely to lead to a more “sensible decision” on those Charter rights and human rights.
Egale Canada has also applied to be an intervener representing Alter Acadie, Chroma NB and Imprint Youth, all LGBTQ2 groups, many of whom have said they were not consulted in the initial process for the changes.
Bennett Jensen with Egale Canada said the group hopes to submit evidence to support the CCLA’s judicial review.
“There are the Section 7 and Section 15 rights, which means in general that the policy is discriminatory against the gender-diverse population who we are seeking to represent in this proceeding,” he said. “And the right to security of the person, so to be safe and comfortable at school — that’s Section 7.”
Jensen said this legal action doesn’t mean Premier Blaine Higgs or the government can’t reverse course on the decision they made, but the current policy does not keep queer students safe.
“Given that nothing else has seemed to have worked, that’s where we are,” he said.
Both Michaud and Jensen said adding interveners could be both a good and bad thing. It lends more evidence to the case being reviewed, but it could delay the process.
The idea is that an intervener shouldn’t delay the process, or argue anything outside the primary argument laid out by the CCLA.
Both lawyers wait for a hearing on whether they’ll be granted intervener status.
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