New Brunswick’s youth and child advocate says the province’s rationale for a review of its sexual orientation policy in schools was incoherent.
Kelly Lamrock says the revised Policy 713 largely follows the approach taken by other provinces, but he is concerned about certain sections where wording was removed.
One of the major changes announced last week by the Progressive Conservative government of Blaine Higgs is that trans and nonbinary students under the age of 16 will need parental consent to change their name or pronouns at school.
Lamrock says calling people the name they wish to be called is a simple courtesy.
The advocate says the government did not need to remove wording from the section on participation in sports that called for student participation being consistent with their gender identity.
Another change made to the policy is that universal washrooms must be private, but Lamrock notes that schools cannot control what facilities will be available when students are on field trips.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2023.