New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he is banning a Quebec-based sexual education organization from sharing information in provincial schools after what he called an “inappropriate” presentation in high schools.
In a lengthy post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Higgs says he’s heard from concerned parents who shared photos and screenshots of presentation material from Montreal-based sexual education group Thirsty for the Talk, an online resource created by HPV Global Action.
A photo Higgs shared on social media as part of the thread shows a presentation slide with questions like: “Do girls masturbate?” and “Does it hurt when you do it for the first time?” among others.
He says the Department of Education told him the presentation was supposed to be about Human Papillomavirus and the group shared materials beyond that scope.
HPV Global Action’s president Teresa Norris told Global on Saturday that an outline of the presentation was submitted for approval with the school beforehand.
She added the contents in the photo shared by Higgs were not intended to encourage those actions, but to discuss the dangers of unsafe sex, including questions that young people often have.
“We want to help protect our children, and we are of the same common mindset that we are also preoccupied about where our children are getting their wrong (or) misguided information on the web,” she said.
Norris called the move to ban the organization from presenting in New Brunswick schools “unfortunate.”
The premier’s post on X says parents must be respected, similar language to what he has used when discussing his government’s controversial changes to provincial policies involving gender identity in schools.
The new rules require students to get parental consent before teachers can use their preferred names and pronouns.
–with files from Alessia Maratta and Anna Mandin, Global
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