There is concern among some New Brunswickers after flyers were sent to households that compared gender-affirming care to “surgical mutilation.”
The flyers were mailed out by Coalition Life Campaign, an Ontario-based group that describes itself as a “national pro-life organization” on its website.
Moncton resident, Myles Botten, was among those who received the mail and said he felt “disgusted” when he saw it.
“I was looking for a package that a friend had sent me. Instead, I found this flyer that really kind of soiled the mood,” Botten said.
The flyer reads in part that “pushing transgenderism in school harms children” and makes several claims about the use of puberty blockers,
Queer advocacy group, AlterAcadie, says it received several messages from New Brunswickers who were concerned about the flyer.
“It’s blatant disinformation and harmful messages that put youth in danger,” the group’s executive director, Alex Arseneau, told Global News.
“The community condemns the political strategy of creating this moral panic over false (information), over lies, particularly when it targets vulnerable children.”
Gender identity and sexual orientation in schools has been a divisive topic in the province.
In 2023, the provincial government made several controversial revisions to Policy 713, one of which requires children under 16 to have parental consent before they can officially change their preferred first names or pronouns at school.
Premier Blaine Higgs told the legislature last June that “we’re seeing a rapid onset of gender dysphoria. It’s expanded in the last several years and it’s becoming popular and trendy.”
Jack Fonseca, the director of political operations at Campaign Life Coalition, says the flyers were sent in support of the New Brunswick government’s changes to Policy 713.
“The purpose is to educate parents to let them know this policy is at risk,” said Fonseca. “There’s so much pressure on Premier Blaine Higgs to abandon the policy. We don’t want that to happen.”
Premier calls flyers ‘freedom of speech’
In an emailed statement to Global News, Premier Blaine Higgs said Thursday that the provincial government does “not have an affiliation with this organization,” in reference to Coalition Life Campaign.
“(But) individuals and groups are welcome to speak out on policies and topics they feel passionately about. That’s freedom of speech and democracy,” the statement went on to say.
The statement also said Higgs’ government “has been clear that we believe parents have the right to know what’s happening with their minor-aged children in school” and alleged the Liberals were threatening that right.
Arseneau with AlterAcadie contends that Canada Post should have refused to distribute the flyers.
However, in a statement, a Canada Post spokesperson said it does not have the right to refuse a mail item “because it, its employees or any customer objects to the item’s content.”
“The content of any mail item is the sole responsibility of the sender,” the spokesperson added.