Calls grow for N.B. premier to denounce mailouts critics say are transphobic

There is increasing pressure in New Brunswick for the provincial government to condemn a flyer being distributed through the mail that some consider transphobic.

The flyer, which is one page long, contains statements such as “pushing transgenderism in school harms children” and “gender ideology in schools often leads to chemical and surgical mutilation.” It also makes various claims about the use of puberty blockers.

David-Roger Gagnon, a Lay Minister at Saint Paul’s United Church in Riverview, N.B., mentioned that members of the congregation have expressed concerns about the flyer.

This has led the church to reach out to the premier.

“We’ve invited Premier (Blaine) Higgs to come out and hear from our own members why this is hurtful and we’re hoping he will denounce this,” Gagnon said.

The flyers were sent out by Coalition Life Campaign, an organization based in Ontario that describes itself as a “national pro-life organization” on its website.

The group is mailing about 160,000 of the flyers to homes across New Brunswick in response to the potential reversal of the Conservative premier’s policy on gender identity in schools if the Tories lose the upcoming election.

“The purpose is to educate parents to let them know this policy is at risk,” Jack Fonseca, the director of political operations at Campaign Life Coalition, told Global News last week.

“There’s so much pressure on Premier Blaine Higgs to abandon the policy. We don’t want that to happen.”

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However, Lay Minister Gagnon believes that the flyer constitutes hate speech and questions how Canada Post was able to deliver it.

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“It’s kind of confusing how that might have happened and I think Canada Post needs to apologize to the community for that,” he said.

In a statement, Canada Post spokesperson Valérie Chartrand acknowledged the concerns raised about this specific mailing.

“We understand when concerns are raised regarding mail items. However, the content of any mailing is the sole responsibility of the sender and any concerns are best addressed by them,” she wrote in an email.

She also mentioned that employees are not allowed to refuse to deliver a mail item, except in cases where the item is considered “non-mailable matter,” which Canada Post stated does not apply to these flyers.

Controversial changes to Policy 713

The topic of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools has been a contentious issue in the province.

In 2023, the provincial government made several controversial revisions to Policy 713, one of which mandates that children under 16 must have parental consent before they can officially change their preferred first names or pronouns at school.

The premier’s office declined to comment further on Wednesday, but in an emailed statement last week, the premier stated that the provincial government does not have any affiliation with Coalition Life Campaign.

“(However) 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 continued.

The statement also emphasized that Higgs’ government “has consistently maintained that we believe parents have the right to know what’s happening with their minor-aged children in school” and accused the Liberals of threatening that right.

The New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation also condemned the flyer, stating, “We encourage the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, district officials, parents, and partners to stand with teachers in countering the spread of false information in our communities.”

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On the other hand, the Anglophone East District Education Council, currently in a legal battle with the province over Policy 713 changes, believes that the premier should take action.

“We still feel that Premier Higgs could change his mind (about the Policy 713 changes) now that he’s seeing the sorts of inappropriate mailouts that are occurring,” council member Kristin Cavoukian stated.

“He could do the right thing and take action here. And that’s what we expect of our premier.”

— with a file from The Canadian Press

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