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

Pressure is mounting in New Brunswick for the provincial government to denounce a flyer being sent through the mail that some say is transphobic.

The one-page mailout reads in part that “pushing transgenderism in school harms children” and “gender ideology in schools often leads to chemical and surgical mutilation.” It also makes several claims about the use of puberty blockers.

Lay Minister David-Roger Gagnon with Saint Paul’s United Church in Riverview, N.B., says congregation members have been vocal about their concerns regarding this mailout.

It’s prompted 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 mailed out by Coalition Life Campaign, an Ontario-based group 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 possibility the Conservative premier’s policy on gender identity in schools will be reversed 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.”

But Lay Minister Gagnon says he believes the mailout constitutes hate speech and wonders why Canada Post was able to deliver it.

“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 said it “understands the concerns raised regarding 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 wrote that employees cannot refuse to deliver a mail item. The only exception is if the item is deemed “non-mailable matter,” which Canada Post says does not apply to these flyers.

Controversial changes to Policy 713

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.

The premier’s office declined to comment further on Wednesday, but in an emailed statement last week, the premier said 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.

The New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation has also denounced the mailout, saying, “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.”

Meanwhile, the Anglophone East District Education Council — which is in an ongoing legal battle with the province regarding Policy 713 changes — believes 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 said.

“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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