Higgs briefed on gender-identity policy 4 years before he made it an issue in May

When starting the debate last spring over how New Brunswick schools should deal with gender identity, Premier Blaine Higgs said he wanted to review the relevant policy — Policy 713 — because it gave parents no role, there was no discussion of it, and even he did not know the details.

But records obtained by CBC News show the premier was sent a detailed brief about the policy as far back as 2019, say parents were consulted from the start, and a new draft support document offered guidance to educators on family involvement and privacy. 

The records show Higgs had an eye on the policy long before the news it was under review prompted protests by students, a revolt by six Progressive Conservative MLAs, policy changes in Saskatchewan and court challenges in both provinces.

The New Brunswick government has now changed Policy 713 to make it mandatory to get parental consent before teachers can verbally use a child's chosen name and pronoun if the child is under 16. The original policy said staff should verbally respect students' wishes about pronouns, and only made parental consent mandatory for changing official records of children under 16.

Some applauded the changes, saying they restored parental rights. Critics said the revised policy ignores children's human and charter rights. School psychologists and medical experts have also said it could put kids in danger.

Documents show the government officially began developing Policy 713 in 2018.

The briefing note from October 2019, said the policy was developed because research showed LGBTQ students reported being "victims of physical, verbal or sexual harassment and assault at school on a daily basis."

"This is evident in the public school system in New Brunswick," said the note, which CBC obtained through a right to information request.

The department had received "numerous" requests for a provincial policy from district education councils, the former police chief of Fredericton, the University of New Brunswick faculty of nursing, school personnel, LGBTQ students and their families.

"This is a policy that is critical to addressing the needs of an extremely vulnerable student population," said the note.

Higgs has said he didn't know "the particular content" of Policy 713 until this year. He said "parents didn't know anything about it, and there wasn't any discussion about it."

But the records suggest there had been interest.

"Significant public interest has been generated around this policy, and pressure is increasing for its release," said the 2019 briefing note, written by an Education Department official.

The note also listed which groups the department worked with throughout development: all seven school districts, parent school support committees, or PSSCs, gender and sexuality alliances, the Human Rights Commission, the child and youth advocate, Pride in Education, parents and youth.