New Brunswick Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard, who was among several Progressive Conservative government members who disagreed with changes to the province’s LGBTQ policy in schools, resigned Thursday from cabinet.
Her two-sentence handwritten resignation letter said she could no longer remain in the cabinet of Premier Blaine Higgs.
“I resign from cabinet, effective immediately,” she wrote.
Shephard told reporters that her resignation wasn’t only due to Policy 713, which establishes minimum standards for schools to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ students.
“I resigned because there is no process,” she said, wearing a rainbow flag on her left lapel.
“Cabinet and caucus are routinely dismissed. I have been struggling with this since October of 2021. I have had colleagues and friends encourage me to stay in the inner circle to do the best I can do. I feel I’ve done that. But I’ve run out of runway. There’s no accomplishing anything more in this cabinet. So I’m ready to leave.”
The legislature voted Thursday afternoon for the province’s child and youth advocate to consult with stakeholders about the changes made to Policy 713. The changes include requiring students under 16 to receive parental consent before they can change their names or pronouns at school. The new policy also removes language stating that students’ participation in sports will “be consistent with their gender identity.”
Eight members of the Tory caucus, including Shephard, sat out question period on June 8 in protest of the policy.
Shephard said Thursday that she felt she was going to be removed from cabinet for speaking her mind.
“I’ve always tried to be very honest, very frank,” she said.
“It’s my job to be frank with the premier, to give my opinions, to give my counsel, my guidance, my input. That’s what I do. And that’s what I’ve done. I’m fine. I’m OK.”
Higgs said he stood by the changes made to the policy and called Shephard’s resignation unfortunate.
“I think it’s unfortunate that if someone says, ‘Well, I didn’t get the vote I wanted or the majority of caucus didn’t agree with me,’ that you walk away,” he said.
Shephard is the second minister to resign from Higgs’s cabinet. Dominic Cardy, who served as education minister, resigned in October citing the premier’s “wrecking-ball” leadership style.
Higgs said it could be argued that Shephard and Cardy quit because they didn’t get their way.
“Maybe both were strong cabinet ministers. Both, maybe in (that) sense, were very convicted in their views.”
Higgs reiterated that he is willing to call an election over changes made to Policy 713.
“I guess if this situation drives an election to come forward, I will certainly be running in it,” he said.
“We are addressing a lot of issues in the province. And they aren’t easy. This is probably one of the most sensitive ones. And it takes resolve, but it takes having balanced discussions and a balanced approach. And this is an approach of how do we engage parents. That’s what this is about.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.