Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard has resigned from cabinet.
Shephard’s resignation comes amid growing disagreement from within the Higgs government over changes to the province’s LGBTQ+ policy in schools.
“Premier, I can no longer remain in your cabinet. I resign from cabinet, effective immediately,” the Saint John Lancaster MLA said in a handwritten note.
Shephard was among six Tory MLAs, including four cabinet ministers, who sided with a Liberal motion passed in the legislature on Thursday related to Policy 713.
The motion urged the government to request that the province’s child and youth advocate “conduct a full consultation with relevant stakeholders on any changes to Policy 713 and the impact of such changes.”
MLAs also asked in their motion that Kelly Lamrock’s report be made public no later than Aug. 15. The motion passed 26-20.
Motions such as this are non-binding, meaning the government is not required to take any action. However, not long after the motion was passed, Lamrock confirmed that he would do what MLAs had asked.
“I am an officer of the Legislative Assembly. A vote of the majority of the House is binding upon me,” Lamrock said in a tweet.
“I will carry out the direction of the Legislative Assembly to the best of my abilities. I will review the motion as passed by the majority and provide details on [the] process Monday.”
Also voting in favour of the Liberal motion were Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jeff Carr and Local Government Minister Daniel Allain, along with Progressive Conservative MLAs Andrea Anderson-Mason and Ross Wetmore.
Shephard, Holder, Carr, Allain, Anderson-Mason and Wetmore were among eight Tory MLAs who sat out of the legislature when the policy changes were introduced last week.
The other two MLAs — ministers Jill Green and Arlene Dunn — were not in the legislature on Thursday afternoon.
RELATED: Education minister unveils Policy 713 changes
Under the new policy, set to take effect July 1, trans and non-binary students under 16 would now require parental consent to officially change their preferred name and pronouns in school.
The previous policy also required parental consent but included a path forward if the school was unable to get parental consent.
In those cases, schools would put a plan in place to support the student in managing the use of the preferred name in the learning environment.
Now, school professionals such as social workers or psychologists will work with students to help them speak with their parents — if and when they are ready to do so.
The move has sparked outrage from a number of groups, including school district education councils, the New Brunswick Women’s Council, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
During a debate on the Liberal motion on Thursday, Progressive Conservative MLAs maintained that the changes were made to ensure parents know what is happening with their kids.
“We can’t be calling a child one thing every day in class and then when we see them in the grocery store or we run into them somewhere else with their parents be expected to call them something different,” said Education Minister Bill Hogan.
“All we’re asking is parental permission to use the pronoun that they wish. If we don’t get it, then we’re gonna offer support.”
Hogan said he has yet to hear from a parent who has said they do not want to know about what is going on with their kids.
Progressive Conservative MLA Kris Austin said students need consent from their parents to go on field trips or have their pictures taken, and this should be no different.
“The province does not own our kids. But God help us if we ever succumb to that way of thinking,” said Austin.
Liberal leader Susan Holt said the original policy is a much stronger and better document for protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ students.
Holt said the policy was created to protect a group of people who have been discriminated against and experienced harm “time and time and time again.”
“Parents in New Brunswick have told me specifically about their children and the value of having a safe space at school to keeping their trans kid alive,” said Holt.
“We can’t have one more child’s life threatened by a policy that’s been drafted poorly.”
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